The Way We Used To Be
by mooopower
Summary: Seto/Joey fic. Joey had a horrible life and he meets someone very special to help him through hard times, but they aren't your ordinary teens. FINISHED!
1. Unfortunate Situations

I was only going to re-write The Future Is A Pain In The Butt but it doesn't feel right only revising the sequel. Cause some things don't add up with both of the stories. So yea, this is going to be a pain but it will be worth it. This is an AU meaning no one knows each other and there is no Mokuba. This story will also be Guy/Guy relationships so if you don't like then don't read. I own nothing!

**The Way We Used To Be**

Joey screamed in pain as his body was slammed against the wall, which was stained red with blood. He winced and bit back a yelp as his father's foot connected with his stomach.

"You piece of shit, you're nothing! You never will be!" Every night his father yelled at him, the beatings didn't happen as often though. The words stuck in his head and he let a tear roll down his cheek. He quickly rubbed it off hoping his father hadn't seen.

"You cryin boy?" Uh oh. He froze. His father saw crying as a sign of weakness, oh boy was he going to get it now. He didn't answer. Instead he kept his head down and squeezed his eyes shut. He could hear footsteps walking away from him, he decided to take a chance and opened one eye, just in time to see the bat coming towards his face. He tried to bring his hands to cover his face but only succeeded in getting both his hand and left eye hit. He yelled and held his eye as he curled into himself. He heard rustling and looked under his arm to find his dad's face right near his own. He grimaces as the strong scent of alcohol invaded his nose.

"You better stop cryin boy, you know what'll happen if you don't." Of course he did, it happened every week, it was a cruel cycle. His father would hit him hard enough where he would cry, and then of course he would just be hit harder which in turn caused him to keep crying. There was a small window of time for him to stop crying. Thankfully tonight he managed to pull it off. His dad smirked and harshly patted his back, causing him to wince.

"That's my boy. I'm gonna go take nap now I'm expectin dinner on the table when I wake up ya hear?" Joey moved his arm away from his face so his father could see him nod. He listened to the footsteps disappear and shakily sighed when they were gone. As soon as he caught his breath he pushed himself up, but bit his lip as a sharp pain shot up his right leg.

'Shit, must be broken.' Noticing the pen on the floor next to him, he grabbed it and put it in his mouth. Hoping he wouldn't bite it in half he pushed himself up, the pen keeping him from crying out too loudly. Luckily his room wasn't too far from where he had gotten up, with the apartment being very small and all. He leaned against the wall with the pen still in his mouth and quietly entered his room. He limped to his closet, grabbed his backpack, and began packing it. He gathered a couple pairs of clothes, his CD player, a toothbrush and toothpaste, and a picture of his younger sister. When he was ready he limped to the front door, luckily his dad was out like a light so he didn't even wince at the loud squeak it made as it was opened. He gritted his teeth as pain shot up his leg.

' Need to get to the shelter first, then I'll have to take a look at it.' He knew that if he stopped now his dad could wake up and find him outside. He would be pissed when he saw Joey wasn't home to make dinner. Slowly he began the trek to his safe haven. This safe haven was near the beach, but it was on the side where most of the trash was so normally no one was there. He approached the abandoned shack and smiled as ran a hand on the wood. Luckily no one had been ordered to demolish the small shack yet. He opened the door and sneezed as dust fell to the ground. An old mattress with holes in it lay in the corner, with a small dusty blanket bundled up on top of it. The small window on the opposite side of the wall provided some light, and if you pushed hard enough, opened to let fresh air in.

'Just as I left it.' He thought with a smile. He shoved the window open and dropped his backpack to the ground. He carefully sat down, wincing as he put a little pressure on his leg. He slowly took his shoes and socks off, then slid out of his jeans to get a good look at his leg. The area over the break was swollen and an ugly black and blue bruise was beginning to form. Taking out his water bottle and a small bottle of aspirin, he swallowed two of the pills and sighed. It wasn't like he could go to a hospital. Even if they had a good back-story like "he fell down the stairs" they wouldn't be able to afford it. Keeping his leg still would be the best thing for it. Grabbing his backpack he took the CD player out and set it to the FM radio. Just in time for one of his favorite songs. His eyes started to water as it started.

_i walk into the room_

_you don't have to scream i can hear you_

_bad trip, the needle sticks_

_you get your kicks from confrontation_

_i try to make it past_

_i don't wanna get into it right now_

_can't this family have one day_

_to get away from all the pain_

_and through the night i see the light_

_shining from the neighbor's windows_

_i dream of life where i'm safe_

_in a home where i am not alone_

_some day i will lay me down_

_on the grass where everything is greener_

_it always seems so good on the other side_

_i'm sick of all the heat_

_you can taste the hate in the air_

_running through this family, uncomfortably_

_it's burning me_

_is anybody there_

_in your eyes there's nothing to see_

_just because your dreams have died_

_don't drag me down, i've still got mine_

_chorus_

_neighbor boy runs up to me, his eyes all black and blue_

_i say what happened to you boy, he said my daddy flew_

_off the hook cos i was playin too loud_

_i guess he couldn't hear the tv_

_he said son i'm a teach you a lesson_

_and then he .... and then he...._

_maybe it's not so good on the other side_

_maybe it's not so good on the other side_

_but it always seems so good, on the other side_

_it always looks so good .... it always seems so good_

_ Smile Empty Soul: The Other Side_

As the song finished he took off his headphones and put the CD player away, letting the sound of the waves crashing onto the shore lull him to sleep.

The next morning as Joey woke up he stretched out of habit.

"Fuckin Hell!" Wasn't a good idea. His fists clenched the blanket and tears welled up in his eyes. After a couple of minutes the pain dulled down but still throbbed.

"Guess this is going to take longer to heal than I thought it would." He sighed and took a drink from his water bottle before giving his face a little splash. As he got dressed his stomach growled, he cursed as himself for not remembering to at least pack bread or something. His dad mostly spent what little they had on booze so very little food filled the fridge or the cupboards. Reaching into the backpack he took out his wallet, he sighed as a lonely ten-dollar bill came into view.

"Guess I'd better save it." He looked at his watch and the 12:00 sign glared back at him, he looked outside.

'Did I really sleep that late?' He shrugged and painfully got to his feet, err foot and changed into some pants. He opened the door to the shack and stepped outside to get some fresh air. He sat down near the water, and let it reach his feet, he sighed as he closed his eyes and slowly breathed in the air. He stayed like this for a while, feeling totally relaxed for the first time in weeks. Until he felt something cold and wet touching his hand. He quickly opened his eyes only to have that wet something to frantically lick his entire face. He shoved the offensive thing away and slowly blinked. A golden lab stood before him, tail wagging at full speed. Its gentle brown eyes comforted him, yet in a way he was annoyed at the loss of peace.

"Dumb mutt, what're you doin out here? Out of all the beach you decided to come an bug me." The dog pawed at Joey's arm and rolled onto it's back.

"Heh, you're kinda cute actually." He rubbed the dog's belly, and discovered it was a boy. His search for a collar gave him nothing to go on, as the dog did not have one.

"Would be nice to have a dog." Joey smiled sadly as the dog whined and laid his head on Joey's lap.

"Sorry boy, no dogs allowed in the house. Dad's rules, plus, you'd just be another mouth to feed. We can't exactly afford that." He sighed and looked out into the ocean.

"Guess I should be headin back, the longer I stay out the worse he'll react." He bit back a yell as the pain in his leg flared. He grabbed his belongings in the shack and folded the blanket back on the mattress. As he made his way back to the street he noticed the dog following him.

"Look I'm sorry but you can't come with me." He resumed walking and tried to ignore the clicking of nails he heard behind him. As he neared his home though he had to turn around.

"Look I told you before I can't have a dog! My old man would kill me!" He said pointing at it. He sighed again as the dog just licked his hand and wagged it's tail. He could see the front of the house and tried to look around for any shelter the dog could go into. Finding none he just shook his head.

"Sit, sit! Ok STAY!" Joey quietly approached the house and peeked his head out to look into the window for any sign of his dad. Seeing none he slowly opened the door and quietly stepped in. He threw his backpack in his room and slowly lay down on his bed. Sighing in relief that he would be able to get a little bit of rest before his dad came home. His relief was short lived as the front door opened and slammed shut. He groaned and sat up, preparing for the worst.

"Boy! You home yet!" He sighed, no use trying to be quiet. It'll only make him angrier. He gathered up the courage to speak, but his voice sounded small and timid.

"Yea dad, I'm home." Heavy footsteps made their way towards his room. Joey cringed under the glare his father sent him. In a flash, Joey's dad had punched him in the nose, sending him to the ground. He bit back a cry as his leg slammed to the hardwood floor.

"Where were ya huh? You just leave without making any dinner, and ya don't even tell your father where ya went!" He kicked Joey in the ribs twice before grabbing him by his hair and dragging him out to the living room.

"I was a worried sick!"

'Bullshit.' Joey silently thought. He was only worried because there was no one to cook him any damn food. He didn't give a damn about him. He was picked up and shoved against the wall, forced to look his dad in the eye while one hand held him up, and the other punched his stomach until he felt like he couldn't breathe. He let Joey fall to the floor and went into the kitchen. He came back carrying an armful of beer bottles, and proceeded to throw them at Joey. Joey screamed as a bottle hit him on the back and shattered, leaving broken glass embedded in his back. Another one hit his leg, but thankfully not the one that was broken, but it still hurt like hell. He could feel the blood running down his leg and back and from his nose from the earlier punch. The final bottle hit him in the temple, knocking him out cold. His dad stopped the onslaught and approached.

'This kid has caused me too much trouble, if I get rid of him that means more booze and food for me.' He thought with a twisted smirk on his face. He went back into the kitchen and grabbed a knife. What he didn't count on, however, was the Lab standing over Joey's body showing off his shiny sharp teeth.

"Where the hell did you come from mutt."? He approached the dog knife in hand, ready to attack it. The dog crouched down lower over Joey's body, trying to protect him before he lunged at Joey's dad and grabbed him by the leg. The man lost his balance, and knocked his head on the edge of the table, knocking him out as well. The dog sniffed around the man's body, as if making sure the danger was over. He jogged over to Joey's body and whined as he nudged his arm. His ears pricked up as he heard a car outside. Like the intelligent animal he was, he ran outside to get whoever it was.

**Kaiba's POV**

Seto Kaiba was annoyed as hell. His new driver had managed to get lost on the way back to Kaiba Corp on his very first day.

'I'm going to have to remember to fire him.' Seto grunted and stared at the trashy neighborhood they were in. He glared in disgust at the trash and poor condition the houses were in. His eyes widened in surprise as he was suddenly thrown forward, the limo screeched to a halt. Seto growled and glared at the driver.

"What the hell did you do that for? Why did you stop?" The young new driver stuttered and pointed to the road.

"A dog ran out in front of the car sir."

"Well then go around it and keep driving!"

"I can't….It's sitting in front of the car sir." Seto growled and hopped out of the limo and stomped to the front of the vehicle. His eyes narrowed as they landed on the yellow lab standing in front of the car. He walked up to it and grabbed it by the scruff, trying to drag it out from in front of the car. The dog just shrugged himself out of Seto's grasp and jumped on him and barked.

"Get off of me you dirty mutt!" He tried shoving the dog away but it just kept coming back, then it ran to an open door and barked again. Seto's eyes narrowed and he curiously walked over to the house.

"Sir?" Questioned the young driver. Seto held a hand up to silence him as he walked slowly and cautiously into the house. Usually Seto's time would not be bothered by such a little nuisance, but something had told him he needed to check it out. As annoyed as he was by animals, he knew of their intelligence. As he stepped inside he frowned at the sight before him. A man in his fifties lay on the ground with a bottle of alcohol in his hand, while a young teen around seventeen lay a few feet away. Seto watched as the dog immediately went to the young teen and whined while sniffing around his body. He approached the blonde quietly and kneeled down and checked for a pulse. He sighed as he felt a slightly weak but steady one. He looked over at the older man and frowned. He didn't want to assume anything, but he figured the older man was to blame for the situation.

"Why am I even bothering myself with this? Why do I feel like I need to help?" His frown deepened as he took in all the blood on the floor and the walls. Obviously this wasn't a one-time occurrence. He closed his eyes, an internal battle going on inside his head. The dog's whining brought his attention back to the boy. His eyes narrowed as he made up his mind. He gently picked the boy up. Wincing as he heard the boy whine as his leg was moved. As he made his way back to the limo he ignored the questioning look the young driver gave him. He carefully placed the boy inside and hesitantly let the dog in as well.

"Take me home now!" The young driver jumped in surprise and stepped on the gas. Luckily he managed to only miss one turn on the way back to the mansion. Seto got his cell out and proceeded to call his private doctor. Once at the mansion Seto Picked up the boy again and walked hurriedly inside, ordering the Limo be cleaned thoroughly on the inside. He ignored the looks his workers gave him and hurried up the stairs into one of the many guest rooms. He placed him down on a bed and only had to wait five minutes for his doctor to show up. She knocked on the door and came into the room. Seto stood and greeted her.

"Good Evening doctor Barrette." She nodded and walked up to the bed.

"Good evening Kaiba, though I wish this were under better circumstances." He nodded and turned his attention to the boy on the bed.

"My new driver got lost and we stumbled upon the bad part of town, this boy's stupid dog ran in front of the car and alerted me to the situation." She nodded.

"What was the situation."? Seto frowned.

"This boy and who I can assume was his father were both lying on the floor. His father had a bottle of beer in his hand. So I can only assume he assaulted him." Kat nodded.

"I see. Well I'll take a look at him." Seto nodded and left the room, giving the boy some privacy. He sat outside the room waiting anxiously for around an hour. All the while torturing himself with the question of why he felt the need to be kind and to help this one person. He was supposed to be Seto Kaiba for god's sake! Ruthless and cold to everyone! He snapped out of his thoughts as Kat opened the door and motioned for him to come in. His eyes softened, now that he wasn't covered in blood every scratch and bruise was in plain site. Kat coughed and he turned his attention to her.

"Well, I was quite surprised by the amount of injuries he has. He will, however, be fine eventually. I can't say much about his mental state when he wakes up though, so we must be careful when he wakes up."

"Will there be any permanent damage?" He breathed a sigh of relief as she shook her head.

"He should completely heal over time, his leg will take a while to recover though. Two of his ribs are bruised. He has multiple bruises all over as you can see and many small cuts, only three larger cuts needed stitches. He is malnourished as well, underweight by around fifteen pounds and dehydrated, though not severely. He also has a large bruise on his head with a small cut but he doesn't appear to have a concussion." All the information sank in and Seto sighed and put his head in his hands. Kat smiled and put her hand on his shoulder.

"I know you Mr. Kaiba. Now no offense but I have not seen you care for anyone these past years. What makes this boy so special?" He sighed again, telling himself he needed to stop doing that. Taking his head out of his hands he looked at the blonde on his bed.

"I've been asking myself that since the second I walked into that house Kat, I still have no idea. You know how much I hate knowing, this is going to drive me crazy." Kat laughed lightly and walked over to the bed.

"Well I hope you know what you're getting into. I found something peculiar about him though that I think you should see." She carefully grabbed the boy's chin and slowly opened his mouth to get a good look at his teeth. Oh wow…the boy sure did have teeth. His incisors were normal for a human both on the top and bottom, his canines, however, were much sharper and larger than a normal humans. Kat pulled the boys cheeks back a bit to reveal that the pre-molars were also normal, but past those the molars resembled that of a dogs. He gave her a confused look and she just shrugged her shoulders.

"I've seen my fair share abnormalities but I have to say this is topping all of them. It's normal for someone's canines to look a little sharp but to resemble that of an actually canines, is something I have never seen." Seto sat down and continued to stare at the mysterious boy on his bed.

"What do you suppose this means?"

"Well…I suppose it could be possible that he has some sort of mutation. Though there haven't been any known reports of anything quite like this." Kat sighed and closed the boy's mouth and patted his head.

"Well, he should be fine overnight. Here's his anti-biotic make sure he takes one pill every six hours, and his pain relievers right here. He'll need to take that one once every eight hours. If there's any problem when he wakes up don't hesitate to contact me, you know I'm always on call." They both stood and shook each other's hands.

"Thank you for coming Kat."

"No Problem Seto, always glad to help. Maybe you and this young man can help each other out." She winked as she walked out of the room, leaving Seto there contemplating her words. He blushed as the words sunk in, and he walked back over to the bed. He jumped slightly as the lab whined from the corner of the room. He sighed as he spotted traces of dog hair already shedding onto his once clean carpet.

"Well I guess I'd better make myself comfortable." He grabbed a book from his room before going back to the boy and sat down, preparing for a long night. Five hours later Seto was beginning to get tired, he looked at the clock and frowned at the eleven pm glaring back at him. He had to be up at six to get ready for one of his company meetings.

'Perhaps I should post pone. I can't leave him here alone, I can't ask Kat to stay here and watch him. Maybe she wouldn't mind though.' He sighed once again, trying to decide what to do.

'I could always move the meeting to here, that way I could check on him between breaks.' His thoughts were interrupted as a low groan came from the bed. He got up from the chair and quietly approached the bed, hoping that he was waking up. Slowly, they blondes' eyes opened half way, his eyes clouded with fatigue. Seto's breath hitched, those eyes. Oh god they were beautiful. Those beautiful brown eyes snapped open and began to frantically look about the room. When those eyes landed on Seto they widened drastically and held a bit of fear in them. Seto slowly stood and calmly walked towards the bed. Bad move on his part. His approach had the boy clawing at the bed sheets, trying to get some traction so he could push himself away from the approaching stranger. Once he finally managed to do so he pushed himself off of the bed. The pained yell echoed off the walls of the room and Seto walked around the edge of the bed to find the boy squeezing his eyes shut, apparently he had forgotten about his leg….again. Seto kneeled down and lightly touched the boy's arm with his hand, only to have it shrugged away and earned a glare from the blonde boy.

**Joey's POV**

'Where the fuck am I?' he could hear the panic in his own thoughts, as he desperately looked around for anything familiar, a blood stained wall, a picture, a blanket anything! His eyes landed on someone sitting a few feet away from him in a chair. His eyes widened.

'Oh god what if he's a killer or something? He abducted me!' His breath hitched as the stranger got up and slowly walked to the bed, the stranger's cold blue eyes now noticeable.

'Have to get away have to get away.' Was the only thing going through Joey's mind. He scrambled on top of the bed, trying to get away but the silky slippery sheets prevented him from doing so. As he found a grip and pushed himself back he could have slapped himself.

'This is gonna hurt like a bitch.' He yelled out as his broken leg smashed against the ground, and he mentally cursed himself for forgetting about it a second time. He held his breath and squeezed his eyes shut, refusing to let a stranger see his tears. He felt the hand lightly touching him and he shrugged it off, not wanting anything to do with whomever the hell this guy was. He held his face up and glared at the guy the best he could, he could feel an unfamiliar surge of rage and what felt like a survival instinct kick in. He saw the guy's eyes widen and he inwardly grinned, maybe his glare was working.

**Normal POV**

It was not his glare that had gotten Seto to halt his actions however, but the sound of the animalistic growl coming from the boy's throat. Seto frowned and withdrew his hand from the boy's body. Even covered with bandages and with his leg in a cast the boy had suddenly turned threatening. His brown eyes had become dark and filled with rage, his posture had become stiff as a tree, and his fangs fully bared. Seto wondered if the boy even knew what he was doing, if he did he didn't show it. How he did it, he did not know, but Seto had gathered the courage to speak.

"I am not going to hurt you. Your dog over there led me to your house. I found you on the floor and brought you back to my place, my doctor treated you a couple of hours ago." This stopped Joey's growls but he remained on guard.

"Where am I?" His voice came out a lot smaller than expected, and just like that Joey's eyes went back to their usual soft brown and his fangs were no longer bared. Instead the boy now took on a submissive scared look. Seto could only blink at the quick attitude change.

"I am Seto Kaiba, and you are in my home. We are still in Domino." Seto stood up and went to give the blonde help up, but frowned when he flinched and shrank back. Seto sighed and withdrew his hand. When the boy made no move to get up Seto went to get his Anti-biotic and his pain pill. He shoved the pills into the boy's face and had a glass of water in hand.

"What're these for?"

"This is an anti-biotic and a pain killer, no doubt your leg is giving you pain at the moment." Joey looked at his leg and sighed. He had refused to take the pills, leaving a very frustrated Seto to call Kat. As she entered through the front door Seto came down the stairs, looking very pissed off.

"How is he?" Seto grunted and glared at the room the offending boy was in.

"He refuses to take the medication, he made those fangs of his a good defense earlier. Would not let me approach him."

"Ah alright, I have liquefied version of both those meds on hand. Let me get them set up and I'll see what I can do. Did he bite you yet?" Seto glared at the giggling doctor.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh nothing." He growled and walked behind her up the stairs, only to have her squash him back. She also insisted the dog be taken out of the room, lest it get defensive of the boy and try to bite. She didn't want to have two sets of teeth to worry about. Seto stood right outside the door, anxiously waiting to go back inside.

"Seto! I could use a little help." He sighed, not even five minutes she was in there and she was already having trouble. The site that greeted him had him rushing to her aid in no time though. The boy had his teeth firmly imbedded in Kat's hand as blood dripped onto the floor, the same look from earlier in his eyes. Seto jogged over to the two and stood over the boy's back, slowly forcing him onto his stomach so he didn't rip up Kat's hand anymore. Once on his stomach Seto sat on him and pulled the boy's arms behind his back. Giving Kat the space she needed to pick up a needle to her left with her free hand and inject it into the boy's arm. Her face held a grimace of pain as the grip on her hand loosened, and they watched as his eyes closed and he fell limp. Seto released the boy's arms and sighed.

"What the hell happened?" Kat snorted and irritably grabbed a cloth.

"One moment he was on the ground whimpering, I tried to help him up, the next thing I know he completely switched gears and just bit me. He probably felt cornered. I think there's more to this kid that were making out. You're going to have your hands full Seto." She smirked at the annoyed teen and got out the liquefied pain meds and anti-biotic. She carefully injected them into his shoulder and put band-aids over the injection sites.

"Don't think I don't know that." He grumbled as he picked the boy up and put him back on the bed.

"Hopefully the next time he wakes up he'll act a little more rationally." Seto snorted.

"Doubt it, his memories of us in the morning will consist of me wrestling him to the ground and you giving him an injection. I don't think that was a good first impression on anyone's part including his." Kat just held her chin in her hand though in deep thought.

"Do you think he remembers anything after doing that though? You told me he was doing the same thing to you earlier. But then he became scared again and submissive." Seto shrugged and looked at his watch.

"Shit. I have a meeting in a couple of hours. Would it be too much if I asked you to stay with him while I attended? I'm moving it to a meeting room here for convenience." Kat nodded.

"Shouldn't be a problem." Seto left the room to go to his office so he could call the secretary at Kaiba corp and ask her to notify the other businessmen of the change of location. He then went to his own room to get as much sleep as he could before the meeting. After he showered and began the meeting in the morning, he couldn't help but be worried for the boy's condition. He caught himself drifting in and out a couple times during the meeting.

'Damn that kid, why am I so worried anyway? Why should I care about him? And why do I keep asking myself this? The answer should be straight without the need for further questioning.' The fact that he had to keep asking himself why was what was attracting him to the boy though. As soon as the meeting was done and everyone had left, Seto briskly walked to the room the boy was in. The boy was awake, but he was hiding under the covers as Kat tried to convince him to come out. Seto sighed and walked towards the bed, giving the lump a look before turning his confused gaze to the frustrated doctor.

"I've explained to him where he is, and what the situation is. He has admitted to his father being the one who hurt him, and that his name is Joey. He won't tell me anything else either." Whimpering could be heard from under the blanket.

"I didn't mean to bite you, I'm sorry. What the fuck is wrong with me?" His voice had gotten louder towards the end of his sentence and Seto laid his hand on the boy's head. He grabbed the end of the blanket and uncovered Joey's body. Joey curled into himself but winced as his bruised ribs made that uncomfortable. He felt so vulnerable not being able to hide.

"Kat, why don't you get something to eat and some rest, I can take it from here. While your down there tell the chef to heat up some chicken broth and to bring up here." Kat looked warily at Joey but nodded and went to find some food. A sniffle put Seto's attention on Joey, he had started crying. His chest constricted, a battle going on in his head, the new feelings for the strange boy intimidating him a little. Joey opened his eyes a little when he felt the bed dip, and was surprised to see Seto sitting on the bed in front of him. Sitting on his knees. He grasped Joey's arm and gently tugged the boy so his head was resting in his lap. Joey stiffened a little. He had literally just met this guy today. And yet, it felt very right. He rested his head on Seto's lap and let himself relax, for the first time in years he was close to another person without them hurting him. It would take some getting used to, but he could manage. Seto slightly smiled and began to comb his hair through Joey's hair, trying to soothe the distraught boy to sleep.

Over the next couple of days Joey had begun to look for Seto's attention, reminding Seto just how badly he had been treated. A lot of times at night Joey would get scared of being alone, showing he had abandonment issues. Often times he would try and follow Seto around even with one leg in a cast, and Seto promising he would be back shortly. The boy would still try to follow him.

'Like a puppy.' Seto thought with a smile. His bruises and cuts had vanished after a week, and his stitches would be removed in another week. His leg still had a while to go though. He was no longer dehydrated and he had gained some weight back, though Seto could still see Joey's ribs. The two had become nearly inseparable, so of course when it came for Joey to get his stitches out, Seto had to go with him. Not that he minded of course.

"Ok Joey hold real still, this won't hurt but you'll feel some tugging." Joey lay on the bed with his head tilted to the side so Kat could get the stitches on his temple out. Seto sat right next to him and held his hand. Joey was not afraid of Kat but more so the needles and instruments. When the stitches on his head were out Kat had Joey lie on his stomach so the ones on his back could be removed. Joey hesitantly lifted his shirt up and Seto frowned. Joey's back had completely healed, but many of the cuts left little scars in their place, he had no doubts the ones with the stitches would do the same. He unconsciously squeezed Joey's hand. When Joey looked at him with a confused look Seto only smirked and ruffled his hair, making Joey pout and try to shoo his hands away. Kat smiled.

"All done Joey, everything except your leg is now officially healed." Joey sighed and frowned.

"How much longer til my leg is better?" Kat smiled sadly.

"Well after the initial break pressure continued to be put on it, so it stressed the fracture. It'll probably take another month and a half to heal unfortunately." She patted Joey's shoulder.

"So he should continue to stay off it as much as he can, I see he likes to follow you around." Seto nodded and Kat sighed and turned to Joey, who grinned nervously.

"I'm restless! I don't wanna stay in bed all day." He pouted, thinking about staying in bed all day made him depressed.

"I know Joey but the more you walk on it the longer you're going to have to stay in the cast. I'll bring some crutches over later then you can bug Seto all you want ok?" Joey grinned and nodded and Kat giggled. Seto managed to make Joey stay put as him and Kat stepped outside the room and closed the door to talk in private for a minute.

"So he's still following you around everywhere?"

"Yes, I wouldn't be surprised if he were getting out of bed right now." Kat opened the door just in time to see Joey getting off the bed. She pointed her finger and growled.

"Oh no you don't! Back in bed mister!" Joey gulped and sat back on the bed.

"Alright alright, sheesh." Kat smiled and closed the door again.

"He's a stubborn one."

"Yes he is."

"So how is he at night?" Seto frowned.

"He has nightmares about his father I think, Wakes up screaming a lot. I rarely sleep in my own bed anymore to keep him calm." Seto had a hint of a blush on his face as he said this and Kat smirked.

"So he is he a cuddler?" Seto's face only got redder and Kat laughed.

"Well I'm glad you can help him, he needs all the rest he can get so his leg can recover." She opened the door again, glad to see Joey still sitting on the bed though looking anxious.

"Alright Joey I'll see you next week." Joey smiled and waved and Kat exited the mansion.

"Seto?" Joey's voice sounded timid and nervous. Seto frowned and walked over to the bed and sat next to Joey, letting the blonde rest his head on Seto's shoulder.

"What is it puppy?" Joey opened his mouth to speak then closed it. He softly nuzzled his face into Seto's shoulder. Seto brought his hand up and began combing his fingers through Joey's hair. This was the most effective way of calming him down, Seto found.

"You're not going to make me go back to my dad…are you?" Seto glared at the wall, just thinking about the man wanted to make him punch something.

"No puppy, never. You can stay here, you know that." Joey sniffled.

"I know, I just wanted to make sure you weren't gonna throw me out or anything ya know?" Seto tugged on Joey's sleeve till he was sitting in his lap, he brought his arms around Joey's waist and put his head on his shoulder.

"I am never going to throw you out, you live here now. No one's going to hurt you ever again." Joey shifted so he could face Seto. A light blush came onto his face as he quickly gave Seto a light kiss on the cheek before resting his head on the surprised teen's chest. Seto lightly blushed and brought one hand up to his cheek. He looked down at Joey and smiled.

Oh my god it took me longer to complete this chapter than I thought it would. I had so many distractions. I got kind of lazy and skipped ahead by two weeks for Joey's recovery time. I kind of felt like Seto and Joey were moving a little quickly for having just met each other but I also felt like If I kept going at the pace I was this would have been a much longer delay. Quite a bit was changed in here from the original story, I found a lot of things in there just didn't make sense ^^; Some things in here probably won't either, but then again a lot of things even in the show didn't make sense lol Please review I would like to hear what you guys think. NO FLAMES!


	2. Unfortunate Encounter

Right then this is the second revised chapter Only reason I stopped where I did on the first chapter was because it was 2am and I felt that if I continued I would have kept writing for much longer. I'm trying to make the chapters longer and less chapters, usually I'm not so good at writing long chapters but I guess we'll wait and see. Since I'm posting all of the chapters at once I want to thank everyone who reviews in advance! Only character I own Is Kat, I'm going to give me partial credit for Dr. Kasakabi whom you will meet soon, someone gave me the name of one of their teachers so they get the rest of the credit.

** The Way We used To Be**

A whole month had passed by and Joey's leg was almost fully healed. During those past few weeks Seto and Joey had gotten closer. Now mind you they weren't pushing each other's tongues down one another's throats, but they did share quick pecks on the cheek and lips. Joey seemed to like hugging and cuddling the most, never having gotten that attention when he was younger. Seto made him feel safe, and he loved being near him and vice versa. For Seto, known for being cold hearted and serious, it was a welcome change. Seto hadn't tried to sue Joey's father, and the man didn't seem to care that his son was gone. The thought of Joey having to go to court and see that man again, it broke Seto's heart just thinking about it. The blonde still had nightmares and Seto officially made his bedroom theirs. Whenever Seto wasn't around Joey always had a nightmare. Even when Seto calmed him down and he fell back asleep, Kaiba would leave and the nightmare would return. So they shared a bed, and some nights Joey wouldn't even have a nightmare and would be graced by a peaceful sleep. That had not been the case the previous night. Even with Seto comforting him throughout the night, Joey had gotten no more than three hours of sleep. So this was the position Kat found them in when she arrived to remove Joeys cast.

Seto was sitting up on the lounger couch with Joey in his lap. His arms were around the blonde's waist while Joey's head was tucked under Seto's. As Kat moved closer she could see that Joey had been crying, stray tears stained his face. She sighed and looked at her watch.

'I should leave them be, I'll come back after lunch.' She smiled as she walked out and went in the direction of downtown. Twenty minutes later Seto slowly opened his eyes and tightened his arms around the sleeping blonde. The nightmares had been getting more intense, leaving Joey screaming and sobbing after he woke. Seto brought one hand to rest on one of Joey's and stroked his hand with his thumb and sighed. It was then he felt something on his forehead. He frowned and pulled at it to find it was a sticky note from Kat, she had let them sleep and go to lunch. Seto smiled and silently thanked her. He almost didn't wake Joey up, wanting to sit there with him and enjoy the closeness. Neither of them had gotten much sleep and it was too tempting, but he needed Joey awake so Kat could take his cast off, and to look at a mysterious scar Seto had found on Joey's neck.

"Time to get up pup, come on Kat is taking your cast off." He gently whispered in the sleeping boy's ear and shifted so he was sitting up straight. He smirked as Joey wiped the drool off the side of his face and opened his mouth for a jaw-popping yawn, giving Seto a perfect view of his puppy's fangs.

"Ten more minutes Seto." Seto chuckled as Joey began to drift off again and snuggled into the brunette's chest.

"Afraid not pup, you need to be awake for this. Remember what happened last time?" Joey cringed and nodded. The first time Kat came back to look at Joey's leg she gave him an injection for the pain, he woke up disoriented and had tried to bite her again. Seto found that Joey remembered nothing after these episodes, but they weren't random and they soon learned what and what not to do while Joey was asleep. Joey hesitantly sat up and moved off of Seto's lap to stretch while Seto looked to see what time it was.

'1:05, Kat should be here any minute.' The doctor didn't take much longer and Seto led her to a sleepy but grinning Joey.

"You ready to get this thing off Joey?" He nodded enthusiastically and got on the couch, pillows supporting his head.

"Alright it might be a little tender so I'm going to give you a small injection alright?" Everything had gone smoothly and Joey's leg was finally free! Kat turned to Seto.

"Alright so this scar you wanted me to look at, it's on his neck right?"

"Yes, on the back." Kat moved behind Joey, who had sat up and put his chin down to give her a better look.

"Why did this particular scar make you uneasy Seto?" He frowned and went to feel the scar.

"It feels like there's something under the skin, something solid." Kat proceeded to examine it and nodded as she pushed against something hard.

"There is something in there, we could take it out if it's ok with Joey?"

"Joey, do you have any idea what could be in your neck?" He shook his head and curiously poked the scar.

"It doesn't hurt or anything does it?" Once again he shook his head and brought his hand away from his neck.

"You can take it out I don't want anything in my neck." Kat nodded and went to her car to get the necessary equipment. When she came back and opened a case Joey paled at the scalpel.

"Ok Joey, whatever this is it's just under the skin so you don't have to be given anesthesia. I am going to numb the area though with an injection and then clean the area and the area around it. I'm going to need you to lie on your stomach and be still all right? You won't be able to feel anything and then I'll stitch the incision up, you probably wont need more than three or four stitches." Joey nodded and nervously lay on his stomach, Seto grabbed one of Joey's hands for support while Kat gave the injection. He watched the procedure curiously and couldn't help but wince as the skin was cut open. Kat reached onto a tray and grabbed something that looked kind of like a tong. She brought it to the scar and it grabbed onto something. It was small, probably no bigger than a grain of rice. Kat held it in her gloved hand for a moment to inspect it before putting it on the medical tray. She quickly stitched the incision and put a couple of gauze sponges over it and put some medical tape over the gauze.

"Alright Joey all done. Now, let's look and see what this thing is." She dipped the device in a bowl of water and brought a light to where it was on the tray. Joey and Seto curiously huddled together to get a good look. Kat once again picked it up with new gloves on and stood it up between her pointer finger and her thumb. She frowned as she twisted it around in different angles and made some hmmm noises.

"This looks just like a microchip you would put in an animal." Both boys raised their eyebrows and scooted in to get a better look.

"A microchip?" Joey questioned and Kat nodded.

"Yea, the material the chip is in is a glass that's biocompatible which means that it's not toxic and can't hurt you. The cap is also the same as a lot of microchips I've seen. It's made out of polypropylene polymer, which keeps the chip from moving around inside your body. I've never seen a microchip with this blinking light though." Seto's eyebrows furrowed, thinking of what it could possibly be. He had a bad feeling about it. Joey whined and turned to Kat.

"Why would that be in my neck? I don't remember anyone ever putting it in."

"It's possible you were sedated when someone put it in, I wonder if this has anything to do with your teeth Joey?" Joey just poked his fangs with a finger and shrugged, looking very nervous at the moment.

"I could take this to the lab if you want Seto, see if we can't figure out what it is."

"No, my employees will inspect it if you don't mind." Kat shrugged and gathered everything up.

"Not a bit, just be sure to tell me if you find out. His stitches can come out in a week." Everyone said their goodbyes and Kat had left for home, Seto had put the chip in a plastic bag and then into a small capsule. He planned to take it to Kaiba Corp tomorrow.

"I'm going to take the chip to my scientists at Kaiba Corp tomorrow Joey, and catch up on some paperwork." Joey frowned and nodded, he got very anxious whenever Seto wasn't around and often ended up hiding in the bedroom. He couldn't quite place a finger on it, but he felt like someone was out to get him. He knew he was being paranoid, but he just had this bad feeling. Seto sighed and drew the boy close, being mindful of his new stitches.

"I know you don't like it when I leave, but you know you have Lucky to help keep you company. You should take a hot bath and relax, light some candles." At the mention of Lucky's name Joey smiled. Seto had been reluctant to have a dog in house, but he couldn't have refused Joey's request. He also felt like he owed the dog, if it hadn't been for Lucky he never would have found Joey. He unconsciously held Joey tighter.

'What would have happened to him if he still lived with his father?' It wasn't a thought he liked to dwell on for long. He let Joey go and smiled at him.

"Let's watch a movie ok?" Joey grinned, making one of his incisors stick out of the bottom of his lip. Seto found it adorable and they headed for the sofa. Oddly enough, as scared as he got during them Seto found that Joey liked horror movies. Maybe because whenever he got scared he got to cuddle up or hide behind the brunette. He couldn't help but chuckle as the blonde nearly jumped out of his seat as the killer popped out and stabbed the unsuspecting victim. He pulled Joey closer to him and he was more than happy to hide his face in Seto's shirt as screams filled the room.

When the movie was over Joey was clinging to Seto's arm as they walked up the staircase to the room. Getting him to sleep had been a little harder but once Seto put his arms around him he instantly felt safe and relaxed. Seto felt bad he had to leave Joey at home, but he had to learn that he couldn't become too dependent. He smiled and sighed contently and gave Joey a peck on the lips, but Joey was feeling playful. He nipped at Seto's neck, careful not to bite too hard with his sharp fangs. Seto shivered and tipped the blonde's head up with a finger and they shared a lengthy kiss. Seto tugged on Joey's bottom lip, but Joey was stubborn and smirked as Seto growled in frustration. He yelped as a hand squeezed his buttock, and Seto took the opportunity. Seto was always dominate In their little games and Joey did not mind one bit, it was a bit of a turn on to see his boyfriend being commanding at times like these. Seto was always gentle though, making sure he didn't rush Joey. He was always reminded later on that Joey was no longer that timid after the blonde always did something that surprised him. Joey sighed and gave him one more quick kiss before snuggling into his chest.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEPP BEEP *** smash * **

Seto groaned and slowly sat up, waking up the tired blonde in the process. Joey looked around confused for a second before laying himself back down and sighing.

"Do you really have to go Seto?"

"I won't be gone the whole day, I just want to make sure all of the idiot employees haven't done anything damaging while I was away. I'll make some calls and I'll bring home whatever paperwork I have to do ok?" Joey nodded and closed his eyes again and snuggled into the sheet, Seto kissed his forehead and went to go get Lucky to keep Joey company. The clicking of nails on the wood floor made Joey smile and he opened his eyes to find Lucky sitting next to him on the bed. He could swear the dog was smiling at him. When it came time for Seto to leave Joey wasn't as clingy as he thought he would be, he was still upset but he didn't try to follow Seto out like last time. That time Seto couldn't bring himself to leave.

*_Flashback * _

_Just as Seto was about to open the Limo's door he heard the front door open. When he turned around he was saddened to see how scared Joey looked. The blonde had still been in his cast and must've had a hard time getting down the stairs, he looked like he was ready to collapse. He leaned against the doorframe and had tears trailing down his face, a panicked look on his face. Seto dropped his briefcase and ran forward as the blonde began to fall forward. He had brought Joey back inside and onto the living room sofa._

"_What are you doing Joey you're supposed to stay in bed. You can't move around with that leg of yours." He tenderly stroked the boy's cheek and frowned._

"_Please…" Seto leaned in closer to Joey._

"_Don't go." He whined at the throbbing pain in his leg. _

_*End Flashback * _

Seto hadn't had it in his heart to go to work that day, it had taken so long to calm him down too. Seto found it kind of funny that Joey had a lot of habits that reminded him of a dog. Joey didn't seem to mind the nicknames so Seto had continued giving them. So when Joey didn't even have to follow him to the door it put his mind at ease. He couldn't help but worry though, he felt like a mother leaving her child with a babysitter for the first time. He sighed at his own personal reference. He reached into his pocket after entering the limo and pulled out the chip that was in Joey's neck and frowned at it. He pocketed it and rubbed his temples as a headache formed just at the thought of going to work. Everyone stopped to greet him as he entered, not even glancing at them he made his way to the elevator and went downstairs to the lab.

"Gentleman, I need you to have a look at this." He held the chip between his pointer finger and thumb in front of the scientists.

"The good doctor has already identified it as a microchip, as in the kind you would put in an animal. She could not identify the blinking light inside the chip however. I want you to figure out what it is, and inform me as soon as you find out." They all reacted with a "yes sir" and began examining the chip.

Back at the mansion Joey had decided to take Seto's advice and take a nice long bath. When he first arrived, Seto had made sure Joey experienced the wonders of Jacuzzi baths. He felt so spoiled, back home the water had barely even stayed hot. There was constant hot water here though. He took a short shower first then started filling the Jacuzzi. Next he got out some scented candles and lit them, he slowly inhaled and could feel himself starting to relax already. He turned the water off and slowly slipped into the hot bath, being mindful of his stitches. It had especially felt good to be able to wash his leg after it being in a cast for so long, he stretched and smiled.

Back at Kaiba Corp Seto sighed, he seemed to do that a lot. Only two hours away from home and it felt like a whole day already.

'Maybe I should call home and check in on him.' Just as he was reaching for the phone a voice came the intercom.

"Mr. Kaiba the scientists have requested your presence."

"Tell them I will be down shortly." He felt a little anxious yet curious, anxious if it was something harmful but curious about what it was. He walked quickly to the elevator and arrived at the lab in a minute.

"What have you found?" One of the scientists beckoned him over to where the chip was behind glass.

"Because the chip has no internal power source we used a scanner to see if anything would come up, like you normally would to help identify a lost animal. This is what came up." The scientist clicked on a file and a page of information showed up on the desktop.

Joseph Wheeler

Hair: Blonde

Eyes: Brown

Age: 17

Ex. # 155

Injection type: Canis Lupus

"We could not locate any kind of address the chip might have, but that blinking light inside of the chip sir. It's a tracking device." His eyes widened and his heart felt like it had stopped.

"When we were examining the chip, we must have accidentally turned it off or something and the light has stopped blinking." Seto glared at the chip and turned to the scientist.

"Good job, keep the chip here. I am going to return home."

"Yes sir." He almost ran out of the building as the limo came into view, he jumped in and yelled at the driver to get back to the mansion and to step on it.

Joey shuddered and turned around as he to the kitchen.

'I feel like I'm being watched.' He quickened his pace and started to head for the stairs. He paused and his eyes widened as he paused at a window. Out of the corner of his eye he saw someone standing outside the window. He slowly turned his head towards the window and held his breath. A young man in his thirties stood outside, Joey didn't pay attention to any details of the man. He could only stare into his eyes. They were hypnotic and menacing, a frightening blank gray color. They put him on edge. A hand suddenly came down on his shoulder and he turned around and bit the hand.

"Joey?" His eyes widened and he instantly let go of the hand and took a step back. Seto cradled his bleeding hand and look at Joey with confused eyes. Joey's eyes watered, he looked absolutely horrified at what he had just done.

"Seto..I…I'm sorry…" Seto stared at his tear stricken face and faintly smiled. He slowly walked up to Joey and drew him into a light hug.

"Don't worry, that was my fault I shouldn't have surprised you like that." Joey lightly shoved back on Seto's chest, still looking on edge.

"Seto…there was someone…outside." Seto froze and frowned, looking out the window. Remembering the information the scientist had given him, he led Joey to the couch and sat him down.

"The scientists found out what that chip was." The grave look on his face made Joey more nervous and the poor boy began to shake.

"They scanned the chip and data came up on the computer, data about you." Joey's eyes widened.

"What…what kind of data?" Joey was so nervous, he cursed whoever had done this to him. He almost didn't have the heart to tell the blonde, but he needed to know.

"General information about your appearance, there was some information that suggested you were given a injection with the Lupus DNA." Joey touched his fangs and seemed to be in deep thought. He nervously laughed and looked Seto in the eyes.

"Almost seems unreal doesn't it? I mean this is the kind of stuff out of movies ya know?" Seto nodded and took Joey's hand and stroked it with his thumb, a frown on his face.

"There's something else isn't there?" Seto nodded.

"The scientists found that the blinking light Kat was suspicious about is a tracking device. However, when they were tinkering with it the light stopped flashing." Joey froze and Seto could feel him slightly shaking.

"So what, someone's watching me? Oh god, that man…he was outside Seto! What if he's watching me?" His voice cracked and Seto could tell he was close to panicking. He lifted Joey's chin so they looked at each other eye-to-eye, and smiled softly at him.

"I won't let anyone hurt you Joey, you're safe here. You mean too much to me to let anything happen to you." Joey let out a choked sob but smiled and closed the distance between their faces. It was a small kiss but it was perfect, Seto's lips lingered on Joey's and they sat there nose to nose just staring into each other's eyes. Seto had to chuckle as a small blush spread across Joey's face and he gave the blonde another quick kiss before pulling away.

"How about for lunch we have a picnic outside?" Just like that Joey's fears were forgotten and Seto smirked as he remembered how ravenously the boy had eaten when he first arrived. They packed two sandwiches, some fruit, water, and a bag of chips and headed to the grassy area near the pool. Seto had been surprised at his own suggestion to eat outside, then again his whole attitude had changed since Joey arrived. They both had changed into attire more suited for summer. Joey had discarded his shoes and socks, grabbed a pair of faded jeans, and a tight white wife beater. Seto was a little more formal, he also had taken off his shoes and socks. He put on some comfortable black jeans and a white button up dress shirt.

Joey grinned and let out a content sigh as he fell backwards onto the grass, his skin instantly warming up in the sun. He let out a startled yelp as Seto covered Joey's body with his and began nibbling on his neck. Joey giggled and tried shoving the brunette off.

"Setoooo that tickles!" Seto just lightly bit down on Joey's neck and moved to his lips, ravishing his mouth. Seto pulled away and lay against Joey's chest, bouncing up and down and the boy lightly laughed. They lay in the sun for a while before sitting up to enjoy their lunch, which Joey inhaled. Seto had to smack his back to stop his coughing after he choked on a chip.

"The food's not going anywhere you know." Joey gulped down his water and breathed heavily, he grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry, it's kinda a habit."

"Silly pup. I have something for you." Joey's eyes lit up like a child on Christmas as Seto took out a small box with wrapping paper and a ribbon. Seto handed it to him and he carefully unwrapped the box and opened it. He curiously tilted his head to the side as he picked up a chain with two dog tags attached. One tag read "Joey" while the other said, "I love you."

"I know it's clichéd but I thought it suited ooof!" Seto didn't time to finish as Joey tackled him in a hug.

"I love it Seto, thank you." Joey gave Seto a kiss and his grin spread from ear to ear.

"I love you pup."

"I love you too Seto." In Seto's mind it had been a perfect day, they finished lunch and joked around afterwards. They watched a movie inside and even had some pie after dinner, which they fed to each other. Seto had never quite imagined himself to be such a romantic but he had to say he was enjoying it. They got ready for bed and cuddled into each other, looking forward to a relaxing sleep. Sleep never came that easily for Joey though. Not even an hour into his sleep did he have a strange dream.

He was in Seto's backyard, by the pool where they had their little picnic. The pool was not filled with water but with a thick black substance that had no scent to it, the sky was filled with dark clouds but it was strangely bright out, but there was no sun. All the flowers and plants that filled the yard had wilted, he swallowed the lump in his throat. Since he could remember Joey had believed dreams to be very symbolic, so with everything looking as bleak as it did he couldn't help but feel on edge. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he quickly turned around, to find someone there. He froze, his breath caught in his throat. It was the man he saw outside earlier that day. Joey was now able to get a good look at the man. He was young in his thirties, and had shoulder length jet-black hair. Those eyes, so gray and dark. He shivered and the man grinned.

"Greetings Joseph." He couldn't move, oh god why couldn't he move! He was frozen on the spot, terrified of this guy and he didn't even know why! The man blinked and tilted his head.

"I don't expect you to remember me, but no worries. I shall make you." His voice was smooth and deceivingly friendly. He slowly walked towards Joey until he was only standing a couple of feet away.

"I thought no one would find the chip, looks like I was wrong. It was very expensive to make you see. I'm glad I found you, I need to keep tabs on you. After the injection given to you I'm required to keep tabs on your…condition." Joey seemed to snap out of his trance like state and brought a hand to his fangs.

"Condition?" He barely whispered as the man stepped closer to him, he abruptly tried to grab Joey's chin but ended up getting bitten instead. As Joey let go of the man's hand he was confused and a little disturbed to find the man smirking.

"I see it has begun, oh how rude of me I have not introduced myself yet have I? I am Dr. Kasakabi." Something in Joey's mind clicked, a doctor? He knew about the chip….he knows about my teeth.

"How…do you know about that chip?" Kasakabi smiled.

"Dear Joseph, how confusing this must all be for you. I know about the chip because I am the one that put it in. I also gave you that injection causing you to get those fangs of yours." Suddenly Joey felt angry, this man had done something to him. Treated him like an experiment, like something he could just play with and there wouldn't be any consequences. That unfamiliar rage was back, he could feel himself tremble with it. He heard himself growling and felt himself baring his fangs but he could not stop himself. He lunged at Kasakabi and pushed the man against the wall of the building.

"What the fuck did you do to me?" He shouted at the top of his lungs, he was so confused and scared. Kasakabi didn't seem the least bit frightened, in fact he continued to smile.

"Something revolutionary. Something I have hoped to accomplish for many years. I need you to come back with me, to the lab. I need to document and experiment further. That injection was a small dose, just the start!" Joey released him and walked backwards.

"No, I..I can't go….I won't leave!" He defiantly stood his ground and glared at Kasakabi with all his might.

"I knew you would say that. It's because of that boy right? Seto Kaiba?" He froze and stared in terror, this man knew Seto?

"Yes I know about him, I have been watching you Joseph. You two are quite close, but I am afraid I cannot let you stay. If you try to defy me, your little boyfriend will get hurt. You're going to wake up now, and when you do you're going to go to the docks. Wait for me there, if Seto comes I will make you watch me kill him. Or better yet, I will make you kill him instead."

"I would never-"

"Oh yes you would. I know you've been feeling that anger, when you bite and don't remember what you've done. It takes over, I created that anger and I can control it. I WILL make you kill him. Keep that in mind. I will see you soon Joseph." When Joey awoke he couldn't move, he knew Seto would try to follow him no matter what. He looked outside, it was still dark out. He turned and looked at Seto, tears welled up in his eyes. How was he supposed to leave the one good thing that had ever happened to him? He finally got a good life, someone that cared about him and loved him. Only to have it being snatched away just like that for a reason he couldn't even understand. Still, that man could make him hurt the one he loved.

"I have to go." He kissed Seto's lips softly, barely whispering his words.

"I don't want you to get hurt. If I stay here, I'm just gonna hurt you." He nearly sobbed as he spoke, not able to stand having to abandon his love. He slowly got out of bed, changing into his jeans and a jacket he saw Lucky sitting outside the bedroom by the door. He frowned and walked to the animal, kneeling in front of it. He slowly brought his arms around the dog's neck as tears slowly fell down his face.

"Take care of Seto ok? I owe you so much, you saved my life." He didn't feel silly for talking to the dog, not one bit. He knew the dog could feel his generosity and his pain. He quietly walked to the front door, hoping none of the security guards would see him. He stuck to the shadows and climbed over the main fence, and he ran. He ran blindly and as fast as he could and didn't look back.

The sound of Lucky's nails clicking on the wooden floor awaked Seto. He groaned and rolled over, eyes shooting open as he realized there was no one next to him. He sat up and looked around, trying not to panic.

'Just because he's not in the bed doesn't mean he's not in the house.' He tried telling himself that over and over as he checked the bathroom, the kitchen, the game room. He was near panicking and was pacing in front of the front door. Lucky started whining and pawing the front door. The dog was usually well behaved and had never done that before, he could feel his chest tighten as he grabbed Lucky's leash and burst through the front door. He didn't complain as the dog nearly pulled his arm out of its socket, he just hoped Joey was ok.

"What would make him leave without telling me?" He nearly yelled, angry with himself for not noticing the blonde leave. He nearly stopped in his tracks.

'That man Joey saw, it has to do something with him.' His mind screamed at him to hurry, he had a very bad feeling about all of this.

His legs felt heavy, so damn heavy. He kept running though, he didn't know where he was supposed to go. He just knew he had to get as far away from Seto as possible. He stopped and leaned against the side of an abandoned building to catch his breath, the long run taking it's toll as he sank to his knees. He looked around and took in his surroundings. He was sitting right in front of an old dock, wood rotted from centuries of being soaked in water. He whined and brought his knees to his chest, trying to stay warm. A shiver ran down his spine and he deeply sighed, knowing who was standing in front of him. He looked up, his eyes showing defeat.

"I'm glad you decided to come Joseph, and alone as well. You obey orders sufficiently, it will make this more bearable if you continue to do so. Come now, it is time to leave."

"Can I at least get an explanation as to why you're taking me away?" Kasakabi smiled, trying to give Joey a false sense of security.

"I suppose you have a right to know."

"Joey!" His breath caught in his throat and dread filled his mind.

"Seto?" Kasakabi's face immediately took on an enraged and annoyed look.

"Look who decided to follow you, I thought I told you to come alone!"

"Joey, who is this man?" Kasakabi's chest seemed to swell with pride as he stepped towards Seto, a huge grin on his face.

"I am Dr. Kasakabi and I am responsible for the changes happening to Joseph over there." Seto's eyes widened before they narrowed as he glared at the man.

"So then you must be the one who put the chip in his neck." Kasakabi smirked.

"I am. I needed to keep track of Joseph to monitor his changes." Seto approached Joey slowly as Lucky began to growl at Kasakabi.

"Joey, why did you leave?" Joey let out a choked sob.

"Seto, he said he'd hurt you if you followed me. He….he said…he said I'd hurt you if I stayed! I don't want you to get hurt please leave Seto please!" Tears streamed down his face and sobs wracked his body. He collapsed onto the ground, feeling so helpless. He nearly jumped as arms circled his shoulders and he was pulled against Seto's body. He tried pushing away but Seto would have none of it, he just tightened his grip and kissed Joey's forehead.

"I'm not letting you leave, and I am most certainly not staying away from you." Both seemed to be forgetting the man standing before them, a wide smile on his face.

"This truly is touching, but I must remind you, Joseph, of what I said would happen if he came." Joey whipped his head around to look at the doctor, a pleading look on his face.

"Please don't! He didn't do anything please don't hurt him please!" Kasakabi just smirked and waved his finger back and forth in a scolding manner.

"Ah ah ah, didn't I say that if you cooperated it would make things bearable? You have disobeyed, and like the dog you are you need to be punished." Kasakabi moved towards Lucky and threw him against a nearby wall, effectively knocking the animal out. He dug a hand into his coat pocket and something similar to a collar was now in his hands. Seto crouched in front of Joey protectively.

"I won't let you take him from me!" He growled venomously at the man. Kasakabi just grinned and before Seto could even blink, he had been thrown away from Joey. Kasakabi snapped the collar around Joey's neck and pressed a button. Joey's eyes widened, and began to take on that feral look he got when he was startled. A shrill buzzing noise entered his mind and he clutched his head and screamed as he tried to stay in control.

"That's it Joseph, let the rage overcome you. You know you will not resist, give it up!" Seto scrambled to his feet and ran to Joey's side. Only to be thrown away, but this time it wasn't Kasakabi that did it. He looked at Joey with disbelieving eyes.

"Joey?" But it was not Joey staring back at him, not his Joey anyway. His eyes had darkened and his fangs were barred, a deep growl emitted from his throat. Kasakabi snapped his fingers.

"Eliminate him." Joey lunged at Seto, missing his throat by barely an inch. As Seto landed on his backside he immediately got to his feet only to be punched in the stomach and the wind knocked out of him. He knew he had to keep moving, but Joey was too fast. Again he was too slow to get to his feet and this time Joey lunged for his throat. Seto kicked his left leg into Joey's shoulder, making him miss his throat as his teeth latched onto his shoulder instead. He bit his lip to keep from screaming as Joey's fangs sank deep into his shoulder.

"Joey…..Joey please snap out of it!" He thought he had seen the blonde's face go back to normal, but it was replaced in a second. Seto gritted his teeth and punched Joey in the nose, forcing him to release Seto's shoulder. He struck Joey again this time right on his throat, making him go down on his knees coughing for air. Seto took this time to stand up and get into a defensive position. Kasakabi stood by, a thoughtful expression on his face.

'He's quite the fighter, perhaps I should take him back with me after all.' Kasakabi approached Joey and pushed the button on his collar and just like that the darkness in Joey's eyes faded, and they returned to their normal color as the growling stopped. He looked around and tried to move to Seto, but was held back by Kasakabi. Seto growled as he saw that man put his hands on Joey.

"Don't you fucking touch him!"

"My my such a mouth on you. Joseph, if you want your boyfriend safe I suggest you come with me to the van across the street, you as well Kaiba. Both of you are coming with me."

"Like hell we are! I will not be someone's experiment and neither will Joey!"

"Unfortunately neither of you have a say in the discussion. You will be coming with me back to the lab, as for Joey. Well, if he is not properly monitored during the time of injection and afterwards he may parish."

"Seto." He turned his head to look at Joey, a defeated look in his eyes. Seto knew they had to go, what other choice did they have. For the first time in years, Seto felt powerless.

"Come now, it is time to depart." He watched as Joey slowly got to his feet, keeping his head down to hide the shame. Seto sighed.

'I have no choice.' He moved towards Joey, afraid that his movement might somehow upset the man. Joey leaned against Seto's shoulder, he could feel the blonde shaking. He put an arm around Joey's shoulders and pulled him close. They walked across the street, and came to a vehicle that looked more like a hummer, except it was longer and had a van like back to it for space. Someone was already in the driver's seat, keeping the engine running. Kasakabi opened the back on the vehicle, revealing nothing but empty space with a thick metal gate separating the front from the back. Seto frowned and slowly stepped into the van, tugging Joey up with him.

" Very good, I expect this kind of compliance from you at all times. This will be a long ride so please make yourselves comfortable." Seto snorted and sat down, bringing Joey with him, the back of the van closed and Joey finally let the tears fall. He brought a hand up to Seto's wound on his shoulder as blood still dripped from it, he gently rested his hand against the wound.

"I told you that you wouldn't be safe around me." He sounded so weak and pathetic, his voice trembled as he spoke.

"I don't care if I get hurt Joey, all I care about is you being safe. I failed to keep you safe pup, I'm so sorry." His brown eyes widened and he looked at the brunette. He burrowed into Seto's chest and hugged his waist.

"Seto, do you think…we'll be ok?"

"I think, we'll survive. We have each other." Joey smiled.

"Love you Seto." Seto tightened his hold on Joey.

"I love you too pup."

Oh my god this is taking so much longer than I thought it would and for that I apologize. I feel like I use Seto's and Joey's names too much in sentences so I will often refer to them as the blonde or brunette or boy, so sorry if I switch like that. As I said I only get half credit for Kasakabi's creation. Even though I'm posting all the chapters at the same time please give me feedback, it will keep the creative juices flowing. NO FLAMES!


	3. Instant Wolves

Well I seem to be successfully shortening the story, trying to make the chapters longer. At this point in the original I was on chapter 8 but this is only the 3rd. It might be just as long though, as you can tell I like to stretch out the scenes sometimes.

**The Way We Used To Be**

The ride to the lab wasn't as unbearable as Seto and Joey thought it would be. They were still scared and mad in Seto's case, but they had expected to be treated like dirt. The air conditioning had been turned on and it even reached the back of the van, keeping the two cool. The van made frequent stops and while they weren't allowed out of the van Kasakabi bought them water, snacks and take out dinners. Seto despised fast food but it was food nonetheless. Joey had stayed in Seto's lap for the better half of the trip and had refused to budge until Seto's lap became numb.

"Good thing this is a van, we can at least stretch." Seto grumbled as he cracked his neck and stretched his legs out. He looked over at Joey, even though he had been glued to Seto out of fear he too had admitted to needing to stretch.

"Yea, feels like we've been driving for days." Joey sighed as his back popped.

"Do not worry my pets, the drive is almost over." Both boys sighed. Mixed feelings entered their minds, both were confused as to how they were to react. Both were terrified and yet eager to know of their fates. Both afraid for the other, hoping they would be able to protect each other. During the ride both had realized that now was not the time to be so afraid, even though he continued to be scared Joey tried to put on a tough front. Survival was the key and to do that he needed a clear mind, and he wouldn't accomplish that when blinded by fear. He, However, could not contain his curiosity any longer. Joey carefully stood up, trying not to fall on his face as the van went over a pothole, he walked to the window at the back of the van and his eyes widened a good deal.

"What do you see Joey?"

"Sand, lots of it." Seto walked to the window and his eyes narrowed. Indeed, there was quite a lot of sand. It was everywhere, dunes, cactus, desert flowers, and nature all around untouched by man.

"We must be quite a ways from any civilization."

"As any secret lab would be, we wouldn't want anyone finding out about this little experiment now would we?" Kasakabi's voice broke the tense silence, causing both boys to turn to look at him. His smirk sent chills down their spines, but Seto refused to look scared in front of this monster. Kasakabi turned back to the road and grinned at the sight before him.

"Ah, we have arrived." Joey took a deep breath and held onto Seto's hand, which squeezed his hand back in reassurance. What sounded like a metal garage opening groaned and made them wince. As they pulled in darkness fell over them until a few dozen lights lit up the garage. The two looked out the back window, it had indeed been a giant steel door opening, but the garage….it was small. Or so they thought it was the garage. Another door in the small space, just barely big enough for the van opened and it led to a dirt tunnel. They drove on for about ten minutes, the tunnel turning downhill though not steep enough to make the vehicle slip. They drove another five minutes going downhill and yet another door opened to let the van through. As they drove past the opening and into the new tunnel a large Vault closed behind them, Joey whistled.

"This guy spared no expense on security." They drove for yet another couple of minutes and three different security doors closed behind them as they finally entered the building. The door to the back opened and they hesitantly stepped out, greeted by the smiling face of Kasakabi.

"Sorry that took so long, have to be far enough underground so were not detected. Before I give you the tour let me just put this on." A collar looking the same as Joey's was snapped around Seto's neck and he scowled.

"What is this for exactly." Kasakabi rubbed his hands together and grinned, seemingly excited about having to explain his creation.

"I am glad you asked. Think of it as a training collar, a shock collar if you will. As long as you act accordingly you won't feel a thing, but if you misbehave I will have to push this button and you will be shocked. Clichéd I know but it works." He gestured at them to follow him up some stairs.

"Up here is where you will be staying. Don't look so nervous your living quarters won't be as big as you are used to but they are still, what's the word? Cozy, yes cozy."

'Cozy my ass.' Thought Seto as he looked at their living space. It looked exactly like a cage, and that's what it was. There were two mattresses on each side of the room, both had sheets and quilts covering them along with a pillow each. Thankfully there was a little room with a door leading to a small bathroom with toilet, sink and trash. There was also a small shower that barely looked big enough to hold one of them, but on the door to the shower was a kind of lock. The entire space looked like a kind of jail cell with the bars surrounding it.

"If you want a shower you'll have to ask so you can be monitored. One of my assistants will stay near your living space until you are done."

"What about our clothes? You can't expect us to wear the same thing everyday."

"I have already thought of that. My prime assistant Isa will make her way to the nearest town and will purchase clothing for you tomorrow. Now if you'll follow me I will continue." They went back down the stairs and into a more open area until they came to a large circular room. In the middle was a metal gurney that was nailed to the tile floor, along with a large flexible lamp right behind it. Tables and desks were everywhere with scattered papers and pens and pencils. Vials of all shapes and sizes were on almost every desk and surface, almost all filled with who knows what.

'I really don't want to know.' Seto grimaced as a back liquid began to fizz and bubble on a nearby table. A large double door fridge sat against the wall, and who knows what was in there. Tools of all kinds were lying around in a mess, some of them looking like something out of a torture film.

"I apologize for the mess, I've just been so busy lately." Joey noticed some brown stains by the drains on the floor and flinched. Busy as in busy making or killing experiments. All the way on the other side of the room was a large room the size of a trailer, it didn't run the length of the wall it was built into but it was wide. Kasakabi walked up to the room and put a hand on it.

"Ah yes this room. This is where I will monitor your vitals after giving you injections and the like. The rest of the facility is of no concern to you, that being said I do believe it's time we begin." He clapped his hands together and looked a little too eager. He turned his attention to Joey who tensed under his gaze, Seto stepped in front of him and glared.

"Now there's no need for that Kaiba. Need I remind you of that collar around yours and Josephs necks?" Seto grinded his teeth, he hated being forced to do anything. If he defended Joey, he would end up hurting him instead.

"If it makes you feel any better you will be staying with him after the injection."

"This better not hurt him."

"I can't say whether it will hurt or not, he did not feel his teeth changing so he may not feel this. It has not been done yet." Seto felt a hand graze his arm and he looked into Joey's eyes, he looked afraid but he also looked determined.

"Alright Joseph if you would come over to the gurney please and lay down. Isa! I am in need of your assistance!" A young girl in her twenties jogged into the room, her light brown hair fell beyond her back and her green eyes held a lot of warmth. Her eyes flashed to the two boys and she gave them a quick smile before turning her attention to Kasakabi.

"What do you need doctor?"

"Please prepare a 5cc syringe with the canis lupus for me Isa." Quickly she gathered all of the supplies, the syringe, the alcohol wipe, and a rubber strip. Isa turned to Seto.

"You might want to hold his hand, this is going to go in deep." Before Seto could move his hand Joey had already grabbed onto his, his grip making Seto's hand white. Isa tied the rubber strip around the arm muscle tightly then rubbed the area with the alcohol wipe. She held the syringe up to the light and tapped the top to get rid of any bubbles, Joey sighed. It was like someone telling you they were going to hit you but they didn't do it right away to keep you in suspense.

"Ready?" Joey nodded and closed his eyes and squeezed Seto's hand tighter, if that were even possible. Seto frowned ad glared at the needle as it pierced Joey's skin, as nearly the entire needle has gone into his skin Joey let out a little cry. It was more of a dull throbbing pain than a sharp stabbing. No the stabbing pain started as the DNA was being injected, causing Joey to cry out a little more loudly. Seto ran a hand over Joey's forehead and stroked his cheek with his thumb. When the needle came out Joey opened his eyes and sighed.

"Excellent! Now then into this room you too Kaiba. Isa bring the patient monitor in here please. Normally this room would be able to track one's vitals without the patient being hooked up, but since it cannot detect two at one time we will have to do this the old fashioned way." Seto eyed the shackles on the wall and stiffened. Joey seemed to know what to do though as he walked to where the shackles were and sat in front of them. Isa walked into the chamber and put his wrists in the shackles.

"Why does he need to be restrained?"

"We don't know how he'll react. He could be violent, if it's painful he might thrash and I don't need him damaging himself. In fact, I think you need to stay out here." Isa jogged out of the room and Kasakabi grabbed Seto's arm and pulled him out of the room. Seto pulled his arm away from the man and scowled.

"I need to be in there with him!"

"No you don't." Kasakabi walked to an intercom on the wall by the door.

"Alright Joseph here's what's going to happen. Your vitals are being monitored and you should start feeling the effects of the injection fairly soon. If your heart rate or anything gets too high you will be pulled from the room. Isa and Kaiba will be standing by the whole time, Isa will be monitoring any changes. "

"You can't just leave him alone in there! How long will this take?" Seto yelled and moved closer to the door to see Joey's face.

"It is best that he remain in there alone, and I don't know how long it will take. It could take a couple hours or it could take a day maybe more. I suggest you get comfortable and prepare yourself, when he is done you will be going in after him." Seto glared and sat next to the door.

'I'm here Joey, don't worry.' He blinked and looked up as Isa stepped right in front if him. He was now able to get a good look at the girl. She was tall for a woman, almost as tall as he was. She had a green bow at the bottom of her hair that almost reached the back of her knees. He noted a small but noticeable scar over the bridge of her nose, and she had blue eyes. Wait blue? Seto blinked as he thought back to just a while back.

'She had green eyes before, didn't she?' Isa blinked and started at Seto as he seemed to drift off, but his staring was getting a little uncomfortable.

"Is there something wrong Mr. Kaiba?" He blinked and seemed to snap out of his stupor.

"Pardon me for asking but I recall you having green eyes before." Isa smiled sweetly and nodded.

"You are correct, my eyes change colors on me sometimes. Unfortunately this trait of mine has gotten me into quite a bit of trouble when I was back home. My eyes don't always change to natural colors." Seto 'humphd' not at all interested in a story at the moment. He watched as Isa unlocked the door to the chamber and took a clipboard in there with her. Isa turned to glance at Seto over shoulder.

"You can visit him for a second if you want, but you'll have to come back out when I say so."

"Fine." Seto stood up and quickly stepped inside behind Isa, the sight before him nearly made him stop in his tracks as his eyes narrowed. Joey leaned heavily against the wall behind him broken out in a cold sweat. He had a light blush on his face and his eyes were half open. Before Seto could even take all of this in Isa was next to Joey jotting down notes on his condition and the time. Joey smiled lightly when Seto came into his line of sight, and within a second Seto was kneeling next to him holding him tightly.

"I'm fine Seto."

"You don't look fine, you look sick." Seto's hand went to Joey's forehead and pulled away from the heat.

"He is sick, a low fever. It's time to go now Seto."

"We can't just leave him in here when he's sick, can't you at least give him aspirin or something?"

"Nothing can interfere with the injection, there is nothing I can give him. All he can do is ride it out now. As I said before it is time to leave now."

"I will not leave him here!" Isa sighed and turned to look at him.

"I am technically not allowed to let you in here but I have anyway because I assumed you would follow directions. If Kasakabi comes here and finds out I let you in, there will not only be severe consequences for both you and me but for him as well." She pointed a finger at Joey and Seto scowled and looked at the door.

" I will continue to let you visit him again but you must leave when I tell you to, for all of our sakes." He sighed and looked back at Joey with a worried expression, the blonde grinned and laughed lightly.

"It's fine Seto, you should go. You'll see me again ok?" He almost refused to leave again, but light footsteps caught his attention.

"Get out quickly now." He nodded and looked back at Joey one more time before exiting. He managed to sit back against the wall a couple of seconds before Kasakabi strolled in with a smile on his face. He walked to the door and peered inside the chamber.

"How is he doing Isa?"

"He's picked up a light fever but it's not rising any at the moment. His fangs have sharpened slightly and his eyes have acquired tapetum lucidum, the ability to see in the dark. Aside from the fever his vitals are normal and stable."

"Very good! How are you holding up Kaiba?" Seto didn't even make eye contact at the man as he growled and glared at the wall across the room, not dignifying him with an answer.

"Looks like we'll have to work on your manners in the near future." Seto grunted and closed his eyes, resisting the urge to fly at him and tear his head off.

"Continue to monitor him Isa, I will be back again in two hours to check up on you. If there are any problems even slight ones, don't hesitate to contact me."

"Yes Doctor." As Kasakabi walked out of sight he heard Isa walk away from him.

"Why don't you rest, I will keep an eye on him."

"I'm not going to sleep. Tell me when you're going back in to see him, I will be going back in with you."

" I'll let you visit him, if next time you listen to me. If not I will have to have you taken to your living quarters."

"Fine, just tell me when you go back in." Isa nodded and sat down in a chair near a table surrounded by filing cabinets. It looked like a worse clutter than back at Kaiba corp. His eyes widened and he growled lightly.

'That's right, my company. I worked so hard to keep it these past years, and in a matter of minutes it all gets taken away so easily. I still can't believe all this.' He looked around the room, then at the walls of the chamber Joey was in.

"It's unbelievable that this kind of science even exists isn't it? Almost hard to imagine."

"Hmm I'm somehow convinced that I'm going to wake up from all of this. Me and Joey will be back home, he'll be safe."

"That sounds ideal for the two of you, it sounds like you two had a pretty good life together."

"Don't refer to our life in the past tense. I will get us out of here, away from that man." He blinked as Isa got up from the chair and moved in front of him.

"That's dangerous to say around here you know. If Kasakabi overhears something like that, the punishment will be dire."

"What around here isn't seen as disobedience?" Seto grumbled and shifted his position on the floor, his feet were starting to fall asleep.

"You should know by now the only safe thing to do is to obey. If both of you are tolerant of the injection and survive it, then you are lucky in a way. You two will be the first to be tolerant of that specific injection, therefore very valuable to him. However, that won't stop him from disciplining you two. You will be powerful, but he will control you."

"How can you assume he will make us obey so easily?"

"You two are too close to each other, caring for another when placed in a difficult situation will make it harder to make a safe decision. You will protect him and get hurt in the process, and he will protect you and get hurt. He will manipulate you easily by threatening the other. I've noticed your friends' body language, he is submissive. Unfortunate that someone like that would end up here, it will only get worse."

"Thanks for the comforting words." Isa blushed and looked away.

"Sorry, I just want you to know what you've gotten into so it doesn't come as a shock later."

"Your warning is a little late."

"Yes well, this is just the beginning you know. I know I said it was an inconvenience to have someone close to you involved in something like this, but it is also a good thing. You two will help each other survive through this. Times will be hard but you will get through them."

"Yes, we will." A loud scream suddenly erupted from the chamber and Seto jumped to his feet and ran to the window in the door.

"What's happening to him?" Isa ran to the door and unlocked it without even looking in. She turned to look at Seto and gave him a dead serious look.

"Stay here until I say it's safe." She shut the door and locked it from the inside to prevent Seto from entering. Joey's back was turned to him and he was in the fetal position on the floor. He waited for three pain staking minutes before he heard the door unlock and it slowly opened, Isa's head poked out from behind and she smiled lightly.

" You can come in." He didn't need to be told again and he quickly stepped inside, the sight before him was troubling. Joey still lay in the fetal position, hands clutching his hair tightly. His eyes were clenched shut and tears streamed down his face, every now and then a small scream or whimper escaped him.

"It's not a severe reaction, he's fine."

"You call this fine?"

"Compared to things I've seen before yes." She moved to sit next to Joey and put her face near his.

"I need you to move your hands for just a minute ok? Come on." Joey's eyes slightly opened and he looked wearily up at Isa, a pained look in his eyes.

"I know it hurts, but I need to see." He squeezed his eyes shut and whimpered, but after a minute he slowly moved his hand from his ears. Wait…ears?

"What the?"

"Ah, I thought that's what was happening." Seto paled noticeably and his eyes had widened to a comical size, a sweat drop falling off the side of his head. His eyes fell to the top of Joey's head where a pair of blonde Inu ears had appeared, his human ears now gone.

'What the hell?' Joey's hands quickly went back to the new ears and he screamed loudly. Isa got up and walked out of the room, she went to the fridge in the corner and opened up the freezer. Grabbing a small dishtowel he wrapped it around a plastic bag filled with ice. She walked back to the chamber and handed it to Seto.

"Hold this against his head. The pain he's feeling from the transformation is not directed to where the ears are, but on the top of his head. I need to get another towel for his lip." Seto finally blinked and looked to Joey's face, indeed his lip was bleeding. He had bitten right through his bottom lip with his sharp canines. Another strangled cry sounded out, accompanied with a sharp pain in Seto's arm. His eyes widened and he looked down at Joey with a surprised look on his face. Joey had bitten into Seto's arm, the bite was deep and Joey wasn't letting go, as his jaw seemed to lock. The blonde was growling and an enraged look appeared on his face.

"Pup?"

"Is it deep?" Isa calmly walked back to Seto and her frown deepened and she sighed. Seto flinched as the fangs dug deeper into his arm as he continued to stare down at Joey. The pressure was suddenly off and he heard a yelp come from Joey.

"Seto! Get back now!" He jumped back and he flinched as he watched Isa tugging on Joey's ears with an annoyed look on her face. Once he had let go of Seto's arm Isa jumped back towards the back of the room, Joey looked at Isa with a newfound rage and he lunged at her. Seto closed his eyes but opened them at the sound of the metal chains clanking against each other. They had kept him from reaching her but only by a couple of feet, the restraints on his wrists holding him in place. Like a chained guard dog he pulled at the chains and continued to growl at Isa.

"Seto shut the door and wait outside."

"You're going to stay in here?" She nodded and sat calmly on the floor, seemingly oblivious to the threat right in front of her.

"I'll be fine, he won't be like this for much longer." She proceeded to jot down notes on the paper and sit patiently. Seto hesitated for a second but eventually shut the door, silently questioning the woman's sanity. True to her word after ten minutes the growling had stopped. Seto looked into the room and saw that Joey was once again clutching at his head, a pained look on his face. Isa put her hand against his forehead and smiled at the lack of heat. She smiled warmly at the blonde and softly patted his head.

"It's alright, the process is almost over now." He whined and dug his head into the tile. Isa turned to look at Seto looking through the door and beckoned him in. He approached Joey and sat next to him, bringing him to his lap.

"He's almost done with all this." She held the ice pack against his head and smiled.

"He's handled this very well actually, his fevers gone and it looks as if he's calming down." Indeed Joey was now completely relaxed and breathing heavily, his hands clutching at Seto's shirt. Seto smiled faintly and kissed Joey's forehead. Isa stood and unlocked Joey's wrists from the shackles and took some more notes.

"Here, carry him to the table out there." Seto carefully picked him up and set him down carefully on the table in the lab. Kasakabi walked in and looked very pleased.

"It looks as if he is done correct? Why else would he be out?"

"Yes doctor he just finished. His fever is gone but he is exhausted."

"As expected. Well done Isa, any complications?"

"There was an incident a bit ago, his instincts kicked in and he became violent for a while." Kasakabi turned to Seto and frowned at the wound on his arm.

"I suppose that is the reason Kaiba is bleeding?"

"Yes sir."

"Why was Kaiba in the chamber?" Isa shuffled her feet and looked at the ground.

"Joey was distressed by the fever, I was not able to accurately take note of his condition so I had Kaiba come in to calm him down. He won't require stitches and I am about to bandage him. Joey did bit through his lip though so he needs stitches." Kasakabi went to stand next to Joey and took his chin in his hands to turn his face towards him.

"I see, is it alright to give Kaiba the injection when he has an open wound?"

"Yes it will be fine. Shall I have someone contact you when I am ready to give the injection?"

"Please do, I will be in my office." As Kasakabi walked away Seto stepped in front of Joey and glared at the man over his shoulders.

"Joey's asleep, we have to take him to your living quarters then I will give you the injection. I will wait until he wakes up so he doesn't think you've disappeared on him."

"It's only been a couple of hours since the injection, how can you be sure he won't have anymore side effects?" Isa sighed.

"I have administered many injections Kaiba, I know what I'm doing."

"You said yourself that no one else has lived through this injection, so how would you know if he is alright or not?"

"His vitals are still being monitored, I can tell from his body language what is happening. If it would make you feel better I suppose we could find a spare bed and lay him here."

"I would prefer that yes."

"Unfortunately that decision is not yours to make Kaiba, neither is it yours Isa." Both turned to look at Kasakabi as he walked into the room, a disapproving look on his face.

"You're still too soft Isa, our test subjects do not get the luxury of making our decisions. They will be the ones obeying us, what kind of messege do we send to them when we are supposed to be the ones in charge here?" Isa was nearly sweating and she looked nervously at the floor before she bowed deeply.

"My apologies doctor, I was just trying to make it easier for him to comply." Kasakabi snorted and looked at Seto, who had set Joey down on the bed and was standing protectively in front of him.

"It is fairly easy to make one comply with your wishes if you have the power to do so, you just simply do not wish to use such methods." Before Seto could even blink Kasakabi's fist was buried in his stomach. Seto slumped to the ground and flinched as a hard kick was delivered to his ribs.

"There, easy to control. Do not forget that you too carry controllers to the shock collars that they wear. You have not been here long Isa so this time your carelessness is forgiven, next time you will not do so without a punishment." Kaiba listed his head to look up at Isa but another punch was swiftly delivered to his face. He felt the cold shock of handcuffs around his wrists and grunted he was shoved against the side of the bed.

"Isa, give him the injection now." He felt the cold alcohol wipe against his arm and nearly screamed out loud as the needle went deep into his muscle. He flinched as the liquid was dispensed and nearly sighed in relief when the needle was pulled out. He felt himself being dragged to the chamber and heard the shackles lock around his wrists and the handcuffs removed.

"Monitor him closely, Joseph will stay on this table but he will be restrained so you can keep an eye on both of them. I will come back every hour to check on you, do not be too gracious with them Isa." Kasakabi walked over to the bed and restrained Joey's arms and legs, he eyed the chamber and glared at it.

"That one will be particularly hard to break, luckily we have leverage." He grinned as he turned to Joey.

"Keep up the good work Isa, when Kaiba is done we will put Joseph in their cell and Kaiba will lay on the table for further observation."

"Yes doctor." Isa glanced at the chamber with a frown and walked to the door and slowly opened it. A very disgruntled Seto sat on the cold floor glaring at her.

"I told you to cooperate you know, he gets very impatient." His glare deepened as she sat in front of him to inspect the bruises. Seto grunted and looked away, he could already feel his body warming up.

"Are we to expect the same thing will happen to me as Joey?"

"We'll see now won't we? You body is different from his and it could handle this in an entirely different way."

"Like?" Isa seemed to think as she studied him, putting her hand to his forehead as she had done before.

"Your fever, which I can already feel, might be worse. A lot worse, many different things could happen. Your body could get defensive and try to reject the injection, since this is the first injection. This was Joey's second so his body had at least a while to adjust to the change before the major one. That's why I'm going to stay in here with you, to keep an eye on you." Seto raised his eyebrows.

"You're going to stay here the entire time?"

"Not every second but a majority yes, I still need to keep an eye on Joey for anymore changes." Seto's eyes widened and he looked out the door to the lab. He sighed in relief as he saw Joey on the bed, still sleeping it seemed.

"How do you feel?" Now that she asked he had noticed a slight pain in his head, but he'd be damned if he was going to tell her that. He heard her sigh and inwardly smirked as she got up and left the room. She kept the door open as she walked to Joey and looked him over before grabbing a folding chair and carried it to the chamber. She unfolded it and sat on it, stretching as she waited.

"You're really going to sit there?"

"You bet."

"…"

"Feel anything yet?"

"…"

"Fine then." An hour passed by and Isa was looking just as comfortable as she did when she sat down an hour earlier. She seemed quite content with herself on her ability to annoy him. He scowled and looked out into the lab, he was bored and his butt hurt from sitting.

"So how about now?"

"…" She chuckled and stretched again, writing down notes he guessed. His body had slowly begun to heat up even more and he began to sweat, he noted a headache was forming as well. His eye twitched as he tried to imagine himself with Inu ears.

"Looks like your fevers picking up, I'm going to guess you have a headache as well?" He grunted and nodded slowly but winced as the action made his headache seem ten times worse. His eyes widened and he clutched his head as searing pain tore through his head it felt like someone was slowly prying his skull open with the back of a hammer. He refused to cry out but he let a small whimper escape him, it seemed like it was going to last forever. Tears formed but refused to fall and he wondered how much longer it was going to last. In a matter of minutes it was gone, but afterwards he felt a strange pulling sensation in his head. Isa pried his hands away from his head and with a confirming nod she wrote more notes down.

"Well you have your ears now, open your mouth please." Too tired to care Seto opened his mouth as wide as he could and grunted in annoyance as his jaw protested. Isa poked Seto's canines with her pen and smiled.

"Fangs are in." She grabbed a flashlight and shined it in his eyes. He covered them with his hand as he was nearly blinded.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Checking for eye shine, ah there it is. Congratulations you can now see in the dark."

"I'm not going to grow a tail or anything am I?"

" It's definitely possible, but I haven't seen it happen with anyone before." That was what bothered Seto, as well as many things at the moment did.

"How long have these tests been going on and who do you test?" Isa's smile was gone and she stared at the floor for a minute before sighing and standing up.

"It's been going on for about a year now, as for whom we do these tests on. Mostly drifters, people that don't have a home or family." Seto glared at her and looked at Joey.

"Why did you choose him? He had a home, and although not a good family he had a father."

"Kasakabi chose him, I don't get to choose who we do these…experiments on. If I had my way I wouldn't be doing this at all, you'd have to ask the doctor about Joey."

"Then why do you do this if you don't want to?"

"I'd rather not say, just that I don't have a choice." An uncomfortable silence fell upon them and Isa went back to the chair she was sitting in before. Another hour passed and no other changes had made themselves known.

"If you don't feel anything now I think it's safe to say you're done. I'm quite surprised you took it better than Joey did, glad you made it through." Seto grunted and stood up, stretching out his legs and cracking his neck. The shackles were removed and he instantly walked to Joey's side. Joey stirred and slowly opened his eyes, he blinked sleepily up at Seto for a couple of seconds before his eyes widened and he tried to sit up. His restraints were keeping his still however, and he whined.

"Why can't I move?" Isa walked up to them and undid the straps keeping him down.

"You had a violent reaction in the chamber and we didn't want you to hurt yourself." Seto nodded at him as Joey looked at him. He eyes Seto's injured arm and frowned.

"I bit ya?"

"It wasn't that bad pup, don't worry about it."

"But Seto-" Seto brought a finger to the blonde's lips.

"It's fine." Joey sighed and nodded before turning his attention to Seto's ears. He grinned and brought up a hand and tugged on an ear.

"These are cute." Seto grabbed both corners of Joey's mouth and stretched his mouth open.

"They also hurt." Joey flailed and whined.

"Ahh I'm sorry I'm sorry! Setoooo that hurts!" Isa found it hard not to laugh and giggled at them. Seto let go of Joey's mouth and sighed. He turned to Isa.

"So, what now?" Joey held onto Seto's coat and leaned into him.

"Well I should tell the doctor that you're both done. Before we do anymore testing he'll probably want you two to rest up. I do still have to go and get you two clothes, leave your stitches alone Joey." Joey blushed and brought his hand away from his lip. Isa got out her cell phone and proceeded to inform Kasakabi that they were done.

"Alright then follow me, were going back to your living quarters."

"It's more like a cell." Joey mumbled, Seto laced his hand in Joey's and gave it a small reassuring squeeze. They walked up the stair and as the door to the cell squeaked open Kasakabi was walking up the stairs as well.

"How are they Isa?" She handed him the papers and the clipboard.

"They're both done, Kaiba finished sooner than I thought he would."

"Very good." He turned to the two in the cell and smiled.

"I am going to let you rest for a while until Isa returns with your clothing." He took out two plastic water bottles and tossed them onto the mattress.

" Drink the water, I will have food brought to you in an hour or so. I don't want the food to react with the injection and make you sick. It takes a little bit to calm down in your system. Isa will return to wake you up when she comes back." The door to the cell closed and as Isa and kasakabi walked away Seto and Joey sat on the joined mattresses. Joey lay down and smiled as Seto lay next to him.

"How are you feeling?" Joey sighed and snuggled into Seto's side.

"Tired." Seto wrapped his arms around Joey and kissed his forehead.

"Then sleep, I'm going to stay up."

"You should sleep too Seto." His voice was getting lighter and he closed his eyes and kissed Seto's cheek.

"I'm not tired." Thankful that Joey was too tired to even reply he smiled for a second before glaring at the cell around them. He didn't trust anyone here, not even Isa. He would guard Joey as he slept, hoping that whatever was ahead of them would become easier.

Omg finally a place to stop! I just kept typing and typing, didn't want to stop yet. Things felt a little rushed here, like Seto's transformation. I'm willing to be it was a little anti climatic? Well no worries there's more action and angst ahead especially in the next chapter. FYI Isa in German means strong willed. Please review, they sustains me! NO FLAMES!!


	4. Just Venom

Woot the fourth chapter! A lot of angst and action up ahead for our two Inu's. I could totally picture Joey with Inu ears is the fun part, and Seto too but he'd have a disgruntled look on his face about it. I should make a drawing of them…I can't draw too well but hey it'll be fun. This chapter is going to be significantly longer than the rest I think.

**The Way We Used To Be**

He could not tell how long he lay there watching over Joey as he slept, it felt like hours and he was beginning to get tired himself. He couldn't sleep though, he was so on edge that every little noise woke him up and made him hold Joey tighter to him. Oblivious to him companions stress Joey snuggled deeper into Seto's chest and sighed. Isa had left a while ago to get them some clothes, he really hoped she would hurry back. He sniffed his shirt.

'I'm starting to smell.' He was really hoping for a shower sometime soon, and he didn't want to change back into his smelly clothes after a shower. He frowned as heavy footsteps coming up the stairs made way to his ears, he growled lightly and glared at whoever was approaching. He was a big man both in height and in terms of muscle mass. He was maybe around six feet four inches, he didn't have so many muscles that it was gross but enough to make him intimidating. He had a look of seriousness to him and he didn't hesitate for one second as he opened the cell door. Up close now Seto could see he had short black hair with a dragon tattoo that wrapped around his neck. Seto slowly sat up and sat in front of Joey, continuing to glare at the strange man.

"Kasakabi has ordered me to give you these tags, they are identification for everyone in this lab." He held out his hand and Seto reluctantly held his out, he eyed the tags and snorted.

"Dog tags?" The man nodded and walked out of the cell, closing the door and locking it.

"It is currently nine in the morning in case you were curious, I will be bringing you breakfast soon. Kasakabi also said to inform you that Isa will be returning in a couple of hours with your clothing." Seto nodded and inwardly sighed as he watched the man leave. He heard a light rumbling noise and smirked, Joey was obviously hungry. The blonde had the corner of his coat in his mouth and was chewing on it lightly, slightly drooling as he did so.

"Silly pup, wake up Joey." He lightly shook Joey and was a little miffed to find that the corner of his coat was fully gone, the fabric hanging out of Joey's mouth as he sleepily sat up. Joey blinked in a confusing manner as he took the fabric out of his mouth and looked at Seto in confusion.

"Does my coat taste good to you?" The humor was evident in his voice and Joey blushed as he looked at Seto's coat. He laughed and scratched the back of his head.

"Sorry Seto."

"Don't worry about it, someone's bringing us food in a couple of minutes, breakfast to be more exact. It's nine in the morning."

"No wonder I'm still tired." Joey yawned and stretched.

"Usually I sleep in til eleven or something." Joey's body tensed as the door creaked open and the man from before entered, this time with three trays. He had a white apron on, making his appearance a little less intimidating, but his serious expression made that not even matter. He didn't know whether to be more afraid or hungry, he blushed as his stomach rumbled again as the smell of food reached his nose. Seto smirked and stood up, giving Joey a hand. The man set the trays down on a small desk in the room and exited the cell once again.

"I will be just downstairs filling out some paperwork, if you are still hungry by the time you are done just yell and I will get more, enjoy." Seto and Joey made their way to the desk and both felt they could almost cry with joy. An arrangement of fruit was laid out on a plate as well as some scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and hash browns. To drink they had water, milk, or orange juice available to them.

"This is surprising isn't it?" Seto looked a little apprehensively at the meal.

"I kind of expected stale bread and water, or worse."

"Well remember what he said before? He needs us alive, guess he's keepin us in the best shape he can." Joey voice lightened at the end of the sentence and he frowned, he poked at the eggs with a fork.

"You think there's somethin in the food?" Seto shrugged and picked up a fork, scooping up some of the eggs. He brought it to his mouth and chewed and swallowed.

"It doesn't taste funny. Besides, you did say that he wanted us in shape. I doubt he'd do anything like that." Seto kept eating the eggs and Joey dove into the hash browns, both ate until they were full with Joey finishing most of the meal. They downed all their water and had a little bit of milk as well. As they finished Joey sat back in the seat and patted his stomach.

"Man that was great, makes me not wanna wait for lunch to come." Seto nodded as he wiped his mouth before bringing a different napkin to Joey's mouth, wiping away the remainder of his milk moustache. He mussed Joey's hair and smirked as the blonde groaned and tried to slap his hand away.

"Come here pup, we need to put these on our collars apparently." Joey eyed the tags curiously and grabbed the one with the big J on the back. On the front the words:

Ex# 155

Canis Lupus

The same thing was on Seto's tag except his had a big S on the back and he was Ex# 156. As Seto put Joey's on for him he couldn't help but grumble.

"Couldn't they have just given us a bracelet or something?" Joey fingered the tag and shrugged.

"At least the collars aren't unnecessarily tight or uncomfortable. I mean it's weird feeling somethin around my neck and all but it's not like it's made of metal or anything." Again Seto had to sigh, the collars seemed to be a kind of smooth leather. Joey excused himself and went to the bathroom, Seto ran a hand through his hair and flinched as he grazed one of the Inu ears. They were still a little sore and he had been lying on one for quite a while. He also noted that his hair felt greasy.

"This is disgusting."

"What is?" He blinked and looked up as Joey walked up and hugged him from behind.

"My hair is greasy, I hope Isa is back soon with our clothing. I feel disgusting."

"She's in the tunnels as we speak." Both turned to look at the man from earlier and Seto sighed. Joey gathered up the trays and handed them to the man as he entered the cell.

" Thank you for breakfast, it was great!" A small smile appeared on the man's face and he nodded.

"Thank you, I am glad to have compliments." Joey's face beamed.

"You're welcome, hey uhh what's your name? Don't think I wanna call you man or dude or something the whole time."

"My name is Zeke, you are Seto and Joey right?" Joey nodded.

"I will send Isa up here the second she arrives, I'm sure you are eager to wash."

"No need Zeke, I'm already here." Zeke smiled and started walking down the stairs as Isa yelled from the bottom of the steps.

"Very well then, I will see you two at lunch." Joey waved and turned to Seto.

"He was kinda scary at first, I'm glad he's friendly."

"Zeke? He's like a giant kitten, no need to be intimidated by him." Isa sighed as she set down multiple shopping bags on the tile in front of them and smiled at them.

"Here you go, I didn't know what kind of clothes you guys preferred but I went by what you're currently wearing. There is a large dresser in that corner to put them in. I'll give you guys time to sort and choose, I'll be back later." Before he could even blink Joey was going through one of the bags, he skillfully caught a pair of black leather pants that were thrown at him.

"Those are definitely yours." Joey grinned and tossed the bag to Seto before going to another one, his grin growing wider as he pulled out multiple jeans and a belt. He turned to Seto but frowned at the look on his face.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just weird, them buying clothes for us. I hate to sound childish but I always pictured evil scientists to be sadistic, not nice to their….subjects. I get why he's feeding us, but why would they buy us clothes?" Seto's voice grew louder at the end, his frustration and confusion evident. Joey wrapped his arms around Seto's waist and nuzzled into his chest, whining softly.

"Why don't you take your shower? It'll make you less cranky." Seto grunted and hugged Joey.

" Let's sort out the rest of the clothes, and not all of the leather pants will be going to me. I've always wanted to see you wear leather." Seto smirked as Joey blushed and whined.

"I don't think leather would work for me." Seto shoved a pair of leather pants into Joey's arms.

"At least keep one pair, and don't hog all the jeans." Still blushing, Joey went back to the bags and checked out the shirts. After they had chosen who would get what they put everything away except for a change of clothes for after their showers. Footsteps were coming up the stairs and Seto looked expectantly at the top step, unfortunately it wasn't whom they were hoping to see. Kasakabi grinned and waved.

"I trust breakfast was good? Zeke is a culinary genius. Isa is on her way back to let you take a shower Kaiba, I'm going to take Joseph with me and run some tests." Seto stood in front of Joey and glared at the man.

"Oh come now Seto, it's just some simple tests such as eyesight and sense of smell, I just want to see what the extent of the enhancements are."

"I'm not leaving him with you." Kasakabi's smile turned into a straight line, both looking into each other's eyes waiting to see who would back down first. Kasakabi's smile comes back and he looks at the two, his smile making Seto very uneasy.

"Alright then if you insist, there is another test I wish to administer. I was curious about this with the last subject, unfortunately he suffered a deathly side effect from the injection before I could even try. Follow me then, I have a more resilient area for these kinds of tests." Both reluctantly followed him down the stairs. They continued through a narrow passageway just under the stairs to come to a large room surrounded by steel walls with concrete flooring. Joey shuddered as he eyes the dried brown spot on the wall across the room. Seto's eyes narrowed and he turned to look at Kasakabi.

"What kind of test are we doing exactly?" A large man taller than Zeke entered the room and shut and locked the door behind him with a key. He was bulging with muscles and was a ghostly pale color. He looked sick but he didn't seem to pay any mind to whatever was ailing him, as he turned around both boys noticed he had the same collar they had around his neck. The only difference was his was bulkier and had a couple of metal rings on it. His stoic face made him more intimidating, it was somehow different than how Zeke looked at first. His eyes were an odd cloudy blue and his pupils were slightly slitted. He stood attentively by Kasakabi's side, staring at them.

"This is Akim, he is what you would call the muscle man around here. He is going to help us with the test today. " Akim seemed to know what Kasakabi had planned as he walked to Seto and grabbed him collar and dragged him to a wall with a short three foot chain attached to it.

"How about you explain first before starting?" Seto tried to dig his heels into the ground as he protested but Akim was pulling him along as if he weighed nothing.

"No worries, Akim know what he's doing."

"I don't care if he knows what he's doing I want to know what the hell is going Ahhh!" Seto went to his knees as a small but painful shock went through his system.

"Seto!" Joey watched as Seto slowly came out of the daze and glared at Kasakabi.

"Your manners need work Seto, starting now. You _will _learn to not question me and you _will _do what I say when I say. Please resume Akim." Akim continued to chain Joey to a wall on the opposite side of the room. Then, to Seto's complete and utter horror Akim sent a hard punch to Joey's gut. Sending him to the ground choking for breath.

"What the hell are you doing?" Seto yelled and strained against the chain, anger quickly filling his mind. His heart tore in two as Akim harshly stomped on Joey's wrist, shattering it on impact. Joey yelped and tried in vain to tug his arm away, ignoring the searing pain in his wrist and up his arm.

"I'll kill you!" Seto could feel the rage bubbling over and he began seeing red. He growled and bared his fangs and didn't even notice that he had bitten his lip as blood ran down his chin. Kasakabi smirked as he got the reaction he had hoped for, he noticed Seto's blue eyes had darkened and rage spread across his face. He nodded at Akim to continue what he was doing.

'Hopefully I will get the result I have been looking for all this time.' Seto's body burned. It felt like he was in an oven, and it was getting worse. He felt like he was going to lose it, as if that damn man did anything else to Joey he was going to fucking tear him limb from limb! He watched Joey whine as pressure was still applied to his broken wrist with one foot while the other foot was brought back and slammed into his face. Something inside Seto snapped, his pupil's dilated and all of a sudden the only color he saw was red. Akim brought his leg back for another kick, when suddenly a sharp pain erupted in his calf. Kasakabi grinned and felt lightheaded from glee. Seto had broken the chain link and his fangs were imbedded in Akim's leg. Only where Seto should have standing, a large dark grey wolf stood in his place. His blue eyes locked onto Akim with a murderous look in them. His jaw was locked and he definitely was not letting go anytime soon. Clapping was soon heard and Akim turned to Kasakabi.

"Marvelous! This is the exact reaction I have been hoping to get for years! This is such a leap forward for the experiment, hopefully we can get Joseph to do the same at some point." The excitement in his voice just couldn't be contained as he stared at Seto in fascination and with a sense of pride. Akim grunted and balanced awkwardly on his left leg, as Seto was still attached to his right. He didn't seem to feel too much pain and if he did it certainly didn't show, blood continued to spill from the wound as Seto growled even louder and tightened his grip. On the floor Joey sat dumbfounded at the large wolf in front of him.

'Is that…is that really Seto?' The wolf was a dark gray, almost an ashen black and was huge! His eyes were still that brilliant blue that Joey loved so much, except now they were dark and filled with rage. The pain in his wrist surged up his arm as Akim removed his foot from it and hopped a couple of steps away from Joey. If it were a different situation the blonde might have laughed. He stayed glued to the ground though, not daring to move. Seto stayed attacked to Akim's leg even as he hopped away, the man looked to Kasakabi as if saying 'get him the hell off me.' The doctor smiled and pressed the button on Seto's collars remote. When that did nothing to phase the wolf he set it to a higher voltage, repeating the process three times until it was high enough to stun Seto and make him let go. The wolf dropped to the ground still growling in a threatening manner.

"Seto." Joey whispered as he reached out a hand to him, he carefully stood and walked slowly to the massive wolf. He sat next to him and raised his good hand to Seto's head and laid it there.

"Seto get up." He lightly shoved him and was near tears, but Seto opened his blue eyes and Joey could swear he was seeing the wolf smile. Seto sighed and slowly sat up, the fur around his collar smoking a little bit. Joey, who was still amazed at the fact that this was his boyfriend, couldn't help but stare in wonder. To his amazement Seto began reverting back to his human self, he watched as paws turned into hands and in a matter of seconds Seto was lying on the floor in all him human glory. He panted and wiped sweat off his brow.

"Wonderful work Kaiba!" Seto's eyes snapped open and he sat in front of Joey, growling and glaring at Kasakabi who just grinned.

"As a reward you two get the rest of the day off. I will have Zeke prepare something special for lunch and dinner. Isa! I need your assistance!" Akim unlocked the door and opened it just as Isa had walked in front of the door. She did a double take as her eyes landed on the boys and she gave them an apologetic look before standing in front of Kasakabi.

"What can I do for you doctor?"

"Please take these two back to their room, after their done showering if their wounds haven't already healed please put some bandages on them. Inform Zeke that we are all ready for lunch as well if you would."

"Yes doctor." She turned to the two boys and smiled sadly as Joey helped Seto stand. They followed her out quickly. Joey just wanted to get away from Akim and the doctor while Seto wanted to protect Joey. They held hands and Joey was leaning into Seto's side, trying to get as close to him as possible. They walked up the stairs and into their cell, Isa stood for a couple seconds before she sighed and walked up to them.

"So what happened?" Joey winced and brought his good hand up to where Akim had kicked him in the face, Seto patted Joey's back in a soothing manner. The brunette snorted and glared at the floor, trying to glare through the floor into room below them.

"They hurt Joey to get me mad, just to see if I could…turn into a wolf." He seemed to blush as he spoke the last few words. Isa blinked then giggled.

"I guess I am right to assume that this all doesn't seem real to you?"

"You are, I never believed in things such as vampires and werewolves and all supernatural creatures. How the hell is this even possible?" Isa shrugged and sat down at the chair near the desk.

"I really don't know, it's like something out of a bad fan fiction."

"…"

"What?"

"Nothing." He mumbled and turned to hug Joey, the blonde climbed into his lap and rested his head on Seto's chest bringing his arms around the brunette's neck.

"Well I'm going to tell Zeke were ready for lunch, why don't you guys take your showers then I'll bandage you after lunch if I need to."

"You go first Seto, I need to lie down for a little bit."

"You ok pup?" Joey smiled tiredly.

"Yea I'm just tired is all." Seto looked hesitant to leave his side but eventually stood and got out a pair of clothes and disappeared into the bathroom. He noted that while they were out Isa had filled the cabinet with all sorts of shampoos and conditioners. There was also a small assortment of scented shower gels and deodorants. She had obviously had no idea to get as he continued to find more bottles of shampoo. The bathroom had sage green wallpaper and was kind of comfy. Seto looked in the mirror and grimaced. His hair was so damn oily and he had dark rings under his eyes, he felt so sweaty and gross. He didn't even wait for the water to heat up as he quickly stripped, stepped in and sighed as the water hit him. Joey waited patiently for Seto to finish showering, he closed his eyes and sighed.

"You sure you're ok?" He slowly opened his eyes and looked at Isa, her eyes held such concern as she walked over to him and raised a hand to feel his forehead.

"I think I just need to sleep a little, nothing to worry about."

"We don't know that for sure, it could be a delayed reaction to the injection." He groaned and covered his eyes with his sleeve.

"Then again given all that has happened I believe a headache would be natural." A thought clicked into Joey's head.

"Why are you here Isa?" She looked a little offended at the question.

"I was told to watch you guys until lunch arrived."

"No I mean why are you _here_ with Kasakabi?" She stiffened and looked at the floor, suddenly finding it the most interesting thing in the world.

"It is a difficult situation, one I would rather not discuss at the moment."

"Will you eventually tell me?" She smiled slightly and nodded.

"Eventually I will tell you both, all I can say now is that he has something of mine." Her smile faded and both turned their attention to the door as it opened. Seto came out looking absolutely refreshed and was even smiling a bit. He chose to wear black leather pants as usual, as well as a black short-sleeved shirt with a Celtic dragon on the chest.

"You look different without your trench coat." Seto blinked and looked to his beat up coat.

"It's not like I'm going to use that one again."

"I hope you like the clothes, I went to multiple shops before finding what I thought you might like." Seto grunted and nodded.

"They are suitable." Joey rolled his eyes and smacked Seto's arm lightly.

"Would it kill ya to say thanks?"

"You know I actually think it might."

"And you call me childish? Thank you Isa we appreciate it." She laughed and nodded.

"You're welcome. You know you two bicker like a married couple." Joey's whole face went as red as a tomato and Seto smirked as he put his ruined clothed in an empty black trash bag.

"Use the shower pup, lunch will be here soon." He was still blushing as he pulled out clean clothes and a towel being mindful of his wrist, but it went away as he seemed to remember something.

"Uhh the collar isn't going to electrocute me is it?" Seto brought a hand up to his neck and he touched his collar.

"I hadn't even thought of that."

"Don't worry about that, there is a strong material that will prevent anything from leaking in. Don't worry it's already been tested." She assured Joey as he gave her an apprehensive look. She smiled as the door closed and sat back down in the chair, it was then that she noticed the bloody and dirty sheets.

"Here give me your sheets, I'll go wash them and bring us some fresh ones." Seto ripped everything off and handed it to Isa, who walked out of the cell and closed and locked the door.

"Be right back." Seto watched her disappear down the stairs until she was out of sight. He sighed and fell back onto the mattress, trying to relax for once. Being clean made that surprisingly easier, but it still didn't come easy. Even the simple noise of the key unlocking the door made him bolt up and tense. He still didn't trust Isa very much, it was hard to trust anyone in a place like this. Given what had occurred just a few minutes ago Seto felt he had the right to be on edge, his fists tightened as he thought of the pain Joey had gone through.

'He hasn't gotten in the shower yet.' Indeed Seto had yet to hear the water turn on, he got up and walked to the door and lightly knocked.

"You ok?"

"Yea, just lookin at all the scented stuff and what not." Seto barely smiled. One of the first things Seto noticed when he had Joey back home was that he absolutely loved anything scented. Candles, air fresheners, soaps, shower gels, bubble bath gels etc.

"Well hurry up I smell lunch. Can you wash your hair with one hand?" In the bathroom Joey marveled at his wrist, just a couple minutes ago he could barely even more his arm from the pain, but now. He raised his hand to the mirror and experimentally bent his wrist forward and back then rotated it, what was searing pain was now a dull ache.

"Joey?" He blinked and turned to the door.

"Yea Seto I got it." He gingerly peeled off his sweaty clothes and threw them in the corner, he sighed as the hot water turned on and he quickly hopped in. Ten minutes later Joey stepped out and wrapped the towel around his waist, he quickly dried off deciding that it would take too long to dry his hair. He got dressed in a dark blue pair of jeans that were a little baggy on him but comfortable. His shirt was black with a wolf on the chest that was stepping out from the shadows and seemed to almost be stepping out of the shirt itself. He didn't bother putting any socks on as he wanted to let his feet breathe. He looked at himself in the mirror and wasn't as surprised to see that the bruise on his face was gone as well, and that his ribs were no longer feeling sore.

"It just keeps gettin weirder an weirder." He opened the door just in time to see Isa bringing their lunch up. He inhaled deeply and almost started drooling.

"Sit down and eat, you're going to make a puddle on the floor." He didn't need to be told twice, both boys sat down and proceeded to eat until they were stuffed or in Seto's case just satisfied. Time passed very slowly as they had nothing else to do until tomorrow, so they talked and held each other until dinner. As they lay together and prepared to go to sleep, Seto watched Joey fall asleep. He would try to resist it, open his eyes a little and shake his head before closing his eyes again and repeating the process. This had come to be a favored pastime for Seto in the time he had been around the curious blonde. He knew they had to get away, but he had to wait. Wait until they were both strong enough to deal with what would happen afterwards whether it meant a success, or a failure.

'But I will not fail.' He stroked Joey's cheek with his hand. They needed to leave before they were forced to succumb to the wishes of this mad man holding them here. For the first time since they had arrived Seto allowed himself to relax and fall asleep, if he wanted to go through with this plan he was going to need all of his strength. A shrill scream woke him up a couple hours later, causing him to bolt up and look around for Joey. The blonde had unfortunately heard the earlier cries of the unfortunate victim and was already lying in the fetal position, pushing himself as close to Seto as he could. He relaxed a bit seeing that it wasn't Joey that was screaming, but flinched as the scream sounded like it was someone in the same room as them. One of the unfortunate benefits of having the enhanced hearing he figured. He hugged Joey tighter and kissed the top of his head. The screaming continued a couple of minutes before it slowly died down, though the occurrence was less than comforting. Joey whined and cuddled further into Seto in an attempt to try and go to sleep again. Seto sighed and didn't shut his eyes again for the rest of the night, as he watched over Joey again. When morning came both boys changed and nervously waited for someone to tell them what would happen today. As expected Kasakabi showed up and had brought Akim along as well, causing Joey to slightly move behind Seto. As always Kasakabi had that damn smile on his face, as Akim's expression was stoic.

"I hope you two slept well, I have a very important test for Joseph today. Which means, Seto, you will remain here until we return."

"No." Kasakabi grinned.

"I am afraid that you have no say in the matter, as I said yesterday." Akin walked right up to Seto and grabbed him by the collar.

"You _will _learn to respect me and you _will _do what I say." Akim dragged Seto to the other side of the room and felt for a hook that was sticking out by a little bit put of the wall. He tugged on it and a chain came out of the wall, which he clipped to Seto's collar. There was not a lack of resistance on Seto's part but it seemed futile as he was chained to the wall, leaving Joey vulnerable to the doctor. Joey seemed to be frozen in place as Akim approached him with a shorter chain, a kind of leash. When Akim began tugging on him to follow he did not move, eyes wide and frozen with fear.

"No need to be afraid Joseph this is a simple test."

'That's what you said to us yesterday.' He thought with anger.

"If he won't come then just drag him, we don't have time for this anyway." Akim grunted and dragged Joey who was looking for anything to grab onto, but it was too late. He was dragged out of the cell and stumbled down the stairs as his collar was roughly tugged on. Kasakabi smirked at Seto from outside and pulled a lever on a wall across from the cell and a buzzing noise surrounded Seto. He glared at Kasakabi and growled.

"I swear to god if you fucking hurt him I'll-"

"You'll do what? You do seem to be used to being the one in control Kaiba. However, I am in control here. What I decide to do to Joseph is none of your concern. When you manage to break the chain I suggest you stay away from the gate." Kasakabi smirked as Seto's glare deepened. He waved and walked down the stairs to the training area the two were at yesterday. He clapped his hands together and smiled at Joey, seemingly oblivious to the boys fear.

"I am sure you remember, Joseph, how Seto transformed yesterday in here yes? One of the happiest moments of my life I assure you, but what would make me even happier is if you could do the same. I believe the transformation only takes place when the subject is desperate enough, near death or watching a loved one being harmed and so on." He turned to Akim who left the room.

"I have a friend with me here, I am sure you heard him early this morning." The echo of the screams Joey heard rang through his head and he whined.

" This is experiment one forty nine and I have had him with me for a long time now, training him to help me out with what today's test is. " Akim returned with a man in his young twenties right behind him, his expression was even more stoic than Akim's was, almost as if he wasn't aware of anything around him.

"He is very obedient, does everything I tell him to. This is the level of obedience I expect from you two soon. If not, well, we shall see. Alright let's begin, Akim would you take their leashes off please?" After the chains were taken off both of them Akim and Kasakabi moved to a corner of the room and sat in the chairs there. With the snap of Kasakabi's fingers, 149's eye snapped to awareness and he flew at Joey like a bat out of hell. Joey dodged his first punch by ducking only to be kicked on the side of the head and across the room. His head hit the wall and stars were the only things in his vision, and before he knew it a fist was buried in his stomach knocking the air out of his lungs.

"Come on Joseph, your life is in danger. He'll kill you if you don't fight back." Joey whimpered and mentally glared at Kasakabi.

'I don't know what the hell I'm supposed to do you jackass!' He would not dare think it out loud but he was damn well going to think it. He supposed once he was almost dead the "instinct" would kick in.

'What if I don't even have that ability? What if he really kills me? I can't die, I can't leave Seto.' He looked up just in time to see 149 leaping at him and managed to roll to the side just in time, he watched as 149's fist crashed into the steel wall and made a large dent.

"Shit." He gulped and looked around, hoping to find something that could maybe assist him. Finding nothing he cursed and jumped back, dodging another close blow. He was starting to panic, what was he supposed to do? He didn't want to hurt the guy, but so far it looked like he had no other choice. Unfortunately his hesitance cost his dearly as his legs were kicked out from beneath him, sending him painfully to the floor. He felt pressure on his legs and soon a sensation that felt like needles going into his arms. He looked up and found 149 straddling his waist, his nails were digging into Joey's arms painfully causing him to bleed. The boy bent down to Joey's arms and smirked at the sight of the blood. Joey's eyes widened as 149 began licking the blood from his arms, lapping at it like a cat drinking milk. The blood seemed to have awakened something in the boy as his eyes looked more alive with an insane wild look in them, and he grinned showing off his sharp fangs.

"Oh dear he's tasted blood, you'd better get your act together Joseph." Joey tried to unhook his arms from the claws but he couldn't seem to budge. Although he felt sorry for the guy, he really did not want to die today. He brought up the only appendage that wasn't restrained, his right leg, and swiftly kicked the other in the balls effectively releasing him. He jumped back and crouched down as 149 glared at him, his eyes had slitted like a reptiles. He opened his mouth wide and seemed to hiss as two very long fangs unfolded from within his mouth, a yellowy substance dripping from them. He lunged at Joey again with newfound anger, ripping the sleeves on his shirt and grazing his right arm with a fang.

Seto yelled in frustration, he had managed to get off the chain just as Kasakabi had predicted. He couldn't however, get out of the damn cell. When Kasakabi had left he turned on the electric wires surrounding the cell.

"What the hell is with this guy and electricity?" He nearly yelled as his frustration rapidly grew.

'I have to get to Joey now!' He slowly got up and backed away again, and ran at the cell door. He almost yelped as he threw his body at the door only to be electrocuted again.

"Dammit!" He slammed the floor with his hands and glared at the stairs. He promised Joey he would be safe with him, that he was going to take care of him and he wouldn't let anybody hurt him ever again! He was miserably failing at keeping promises lately. Seto squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his fists.

"I can't give up, I promised him!" He once again got up, stood back and rammed the door.

Joey panted, he had been dodging 149 for almost ten minutes. While he wasn't exhausted he was starting to get careless with him movements, having more than enough close calls for comfort.

'His fangs are too long, his reflexes are too good I can't even land a punch! He's too damn quick.' The worst had yet to come apparently, as 149 seemed to almost disappear before his very eyes. Only to re-appear behind him, Joey yelped and sank to his knees as those long fangs dug into his shoulder.

"Hmmm you'd better fetch Isa, tell her we'll be needing some anti-venom. I suppose I should have had her do that beforehand. Oh! Do tell her it's a Neurotoxin venom!"

"Venom?" He hadn't even realized he had said it out loud as he had barely even whispered it, yes Kasakabi seemed to have heard.

"Yes venom. He was given the snake gene, one of my first experiments you could say. I didn't expect him to actually develop venom glands but I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I did after all give him the genes from a Cape Cobra. I do find their hoods to be extraordinary. I suppose that's all we can do for now, we will just have to try later won't we?" Joey whined as 149 extracted his fangs from his shoulder and backed away to go stand by Kasakabi. A pins and needles sensation began to slowly spread throughout his body making him hug his arms around his body. Minutes passed by and Akim returned.

"Isa said she will have the anti-venom ready as soon as she can, but it will take a while. She wants us to bring him to the infirmary."

"Very well, you take him. I will put 149 away." Joey suddenly felt very drowsy, he lay on his side and sighed. Even as he was being picked up he did not protest for he didn't seem to have the energy. His eyelids began to droop as they passed the stairs to the cell and turned left into a small infirmary where Isa was waiting.

"Set him down quickly." By now Joey had begun to sweat profusely and his pupils were now dialated.

"Joey? Joey sweetie I need you to tell me what's going on." She knew what was going on, she knew all about venom. She just didn't know what his particular symptoms were. She could see his pupils and his eyelids drooping, signaling the venom had begun its attack on his nervous system. He turned his attention to her and almost looked confused and disoriented. He brought a hand up to his chest and squeezed his eyes shut as a whimper escaped him.

"What's wrong Joey? I need you to tell me."

"Chest….tight." She nodded and grabbed a towel that she ran under cool water, came back and set it on his forehead. Unfortunately until the anti-venom was done there was nothing she could do, she wasn't too worried as she noticed they had both acquired the expected healing abilities. She had no idea how potent the venom would be though, from a normal snake she would know what to expect. Joey slowly brought a hand to his mouth and paled. Isa grabbed a bucket just in time as Joey started vomiting. She held the bucket with one hand and rubbed his back with the other in an attempt to comfort him. He dry heaved a couple of times before falling back onto the bed, breathing heavily.

"Done?" She didn't receive an answer but kept the bucket close by just in case. She wiped off any vomit around his mouth and went to fill up a paper cup with water.

"Here, drink this." He weakly turned his head away, his throat was sore and he didn't want to drink anything at the moment. She sighed and brought a hand behind his back and propped him up against the headboard.

"Drink it, I'm not going to stop pestering you until you do." Joey slowly turned his head back, she smiled and brought the cup to his lips. She frowned when he tried swallowing, only to choke and spit it up. Tears formed at his eyes and he closed them.

'Shit.' She was starting to get nervous, she didn't even hear Kasakabi walk in and shut the door.

"How is Joseph Isa?"

"Oh! Doctor you surprised me."

"My apologies."

"I'm starting to worry, his nervous system is already being assaulted and he's started having trouble swallowing. His pupils are dilated and Hypotension is setting in, he could go into shock."

"I see, his healing ability should be taking care of the venom shouldn't it?"

"The healing ability is different for everyone, even it was strong the venom itself is probably stronger. If you don't mind me asking doctor, why would you take out 149 when we did no tests on him?" Kasakabi smiled.

"I was curious, I am also very anxious to see if Joseph has the ability to transform as Seto did yesterday. It would be a breakthrough." Isa did not meet his eyes the entire time they talked. Instead she kept her eyes on Joey and took his blood pressure. She went to the back for a minute and came back with an IV bag and stand. She hooked him up to the fluids and wet the rag on his forehead again. By the time she came back and put the rag on his head again he had started to have trouble breathing.

'Respiratory muscle paralyses.' She heavily sat down in the chair beside the bed and held Joey's hand and whispered comforting words.

"How long until the anti-venom is ready Isa?" She sighed and shook her head.

"Not for another hour or two, he should be okay though I think."

"Well then, I'm going to speak to Kaiba. Make him aware of the situation."

"You sure that's a good idea?"

"It'll be fine, I turned the electric fence on."

"Seto?" Joey spoke in a weak voice and lazily moved his head around, looking for Seto.

"Seto's not here Joey, the doctor is going to speak with him." Joey whined and looked at her with sad half lidded eyes.

"I want Seto." Isa turned to look at Kasakabi who shook his head. She sighed and looked back at him sadly.

"I'm sorry Sweetie Seto can't come down here now. You'll be fine though ok?" He shook his head and closed his eyes as tears fell down his cheeks, his hand gripped his abdomen.

"It hurts."

"I know, I'll get a pain killer alright? Just hang in there."

_ _

To say the sight that greeted Kasakabi amused him was putting it lightly. In fact anyone passing by might have laughed or given him a strange look. Seto was kneeling on the ground breathing heavily, as if he had just run a marathon. His brown hair, which was neat before was now kind of frizzy and was lightly smoking, his clothing was a little charred around the edges as well.

"I did tell you to stay away from the bars didn't I?" Seto's glare was immediately directed at him and he shakily got to his feet and moved as close to the bars as he could without getting himself shocked again.

"Where is Joey?"

"He is currently with Isa in the infirmary, I am sorry to say the test didn't go as planned. Some things got out of hand but it shall be fixed soon."

"What did you do to him?" Kasakabi smiled and shook his head.

"I didn't lay one finger on the boy."

"Bullshit!"

"I'd watch your mouth if I were you Seto, but if you must know an old experiment of mine had some play time with Joseph. He got over stimulated and played a little too rough. It is being taken of though so don't worry your pretty head."

"As if I could stop worrying about him when he's left alone with you." Kasakabi smiled and turned to leave but paused at the top of the steps.

"I do suggest, Kaiba, that you leave any thought of escape out of your mind. I have seen many come here with the kind of determination you possess, only to have it end in tragedy. In the distant future everything you ever held dear will be destroyed, the world will be in ruins and trapped in an everlasting twilight." Seto blinked with wide eyes, the world was going to end?

"You two should be grateful actually, I have saved you from certain death. Life here will not be as luxurious as it was when you had your freedom, but isn't the fact that you are alive good enough?"

"Things may not look promising now with the way you are being treated, but I guarantee you that when I am sure I have your full allegiance life will get better." The way the man changed his attitude from annoyed and uncaring to soft and reassuring was a little disorienting.

"As touching and reassuring as your little speech was, my trust in you has not increased in the slightest."

"Hmm what a shame, I do hope you'll consider behaving for both your sake and Josephs." Seto stared at his back as he descended down the stairs.

'What a clichéd thing to mention, he wants to destroy the world.' Seto snorted and looked at the ground in contemplation.

'Why would he be saving our lives if he wants to destroy the world? Wouldn't we die as well? Unless he plans to shoot us into space or something, that seems highly unlikely though.' He groaned and lay on the floor on his back and hit his head against the floor.

"Why does everything have to be so complicated?"

-

Kasakabi frowned as he walked into the infirmary, Joey's condition has noticeably worsened. He checked his watch and grunted in annoyance, a little less than an hour remained until the anti-venom would be ready.

"How is he Isa?" He knew he didn't have to ask but he felt he needed to make his presence known. As Isa turned to face him he saw the concern and panic in her eyes.

"He started having trouble breathing before you left and it's gotten worse, his heart rate is decreasing and he has a fever. If he's going to make it through this his healing is going to have to get in gear quickly."

"Is there no way the process of creating the anti-venom can be hurried along?" She shook her head and quickly wet a towel and wiped his face and neck with it, wiping away the cold sweat.

"Keep him alive Isa, he is very valuable. It would be a shame to lose such a successful experiment." The way he spoke of Joey as if he were not even human made her irritated. She checked that the IV was still in his hand before changing the bags and putting a new full one in its place. Joey's eyes were now almost closed and she could barely see the warm brown eyes. She sighed and wiped away the saliva that dripped out of his mouth, his complication with swallowing had lead to excess production of saliva. He whined as he tried to swallow and squeezed his eyes shut. Unfortunately the pain reliever she had given him hadn't done much, she wasn't even sure it had done anything. She looked behind her to see Kasakabi still standing by the door frowning, staring at Joey as if in contemplation.

"Doctor? I need to check on the anti-venom, would you stay here with him for a couple of minutes?" She was a little hesitant to leave Joey in the doctor's care, but he had to be watched, and she needed to check on the injection.

"Of course, go ahead." She looked back to Joey once more before exiting through the door. She came back a few minutes later and was relieved to see Kasakabi had not moved from his spot by the door, he looked at her expectantly.

"Around half an hour more and it will be done. I know you said we need to…show them their place here. I think it would help him to have Seto here until the injection though. He doesn't exactly trust me as much and if he starts hyperventilating from panic I don't think he would calm down."

"They need to learn that they cannot constantly be with each other."

"I know that, but every time they are separated it's only to hurt the other. How will they learn to not worry about being separated when they know they are going to get hurt?" Kasakabi snorted and glared at the cell Seto was in.

"It is better to be feared than loved Isa, you have been here for a while now. I have yet to see you change your attitude about this subject. Remember why you are here?" She flinched and looked at the ground.

"How could I forget doctor?"

"Then I suggest you keep that in mind, I hope your attitude changes soon. I have given you years, lots of time but still no change. We wouldn't want to have an old friend of mine pay a visit to your family now would we?" Her eyes narrowed and she clenched her teeth.

"No, you won't have to."

"Let's hope not." The next ten minutes were spent trying to keep Joey hydrated and breathing. His breaths were very erratic and sometimes it didn't even look like he was breathing causing Isa to panic and check for a pulse. She checked the clock on the wall and asked Kasakabi to watch him again.

"It's done!"

"Ah very good Isa." It was a large amount but hopefully it wasn't too late, he already looked half dead. He winced a little as the needle went in but after a couple of minutes he seemed to be more aware by just a little bit. He didn't get any worse after five minutes and his heart rate began to slightly pick up.

"I think he's in the clear now. I'll do more research about 149's venom and make more anti-venom ahead of time in case of other…mishaps. Would it be alright to ask Zeke to watch him while I do so?" Kasakabi nodded and turned to walk out the door.

"When you know for sure he is going to remain stable put him back in the cell. Don't want to keep Kaiba waiting too long or he'll go insane." She was a little shocked by the suggestion but didn't ask questions, Zeke soon came and took a seat next to Joey while Isa headed to the lab.

_ _

Seto tapped his fingers against the desk impatiently, he was so fucking anxious. He didn't know if Joey was ok, what if he was being hurt right now while he was just sitting there? He growled and slammed his hand against the wood. It had been too long since Kasakabi had stopped by, maybe an hour. At least that's what it felt like. If everything were taken care of as the doctor had said, then wouldn't Joey have been back by now? Footsteps coming up the stairs had him on his feet in a second and as close to the cell door as he could get. His eyes narrowed and he growled as Akim appeared at the top with a limp Joey in his arms, Kasakabi right behind him with a smile on his face. He turned off the electricity but took the controller for Seto's collar out of his pocket. The door was unlocked and Seto had grabbed Joey out of Akim's arms so quickly the man hadn't even noticed and blinked down at his empty arms. He carefully set Joey on the bed and stood in front of him while glaring at the two. Kasakabi grinned and held his hands up.

"He's fine Kaiba, recovering quite well actually. It's nine in the morning so I will have Zeke make you breakfast, no doubt after this ordeal you must be starving." The door was shut and this time the electricity was not turned on, Seto stayed in front of Joey until both men had gone from sight. He turned to Joey and frowned while combing his hand through the blonde's sweaty hair.

"Joey?" Tired brown eyes opened half way and looked at Seto with confusion.

"He's pretty disoriented still, I wouldn't expect him to be able to talk for at least another hour." His frown deepened and Isa entered the cell for a check up.

"What happened to him?" She sighed jotted down notes.

"Kasakabi had a venomous experiment fight against him, only he had no idea that he possessed any venom. I had no anti-venom so I was worried for a bit but he pulled through just fine. He's stable now so you don't have to worry." Seto said nothing but continued to stare at Joey with worry.

"Will he be able to eat?"

"I think so yea, but probably only soft food. He might still be having trouble swallowing. I'll tell Zeke to fix some soup." Seto nodded and kissed Joey's forehead, pulling him closer to his body. Isa left with a small smile on her face, the bond those two had really warmed her heart. It was hard to be stern with them as Kasakabi wanted her to. Seto carefully crawled into bed with Joey, pulling him close to him.

"I failed to protect you, you got hurt because of me." He murmured and put his forehead to Joeys. He slowly fell asleep next to the blonde, hugging him close protecting him even in his sleep. As Isa walked up the stairs she smiled at the sight.

'I'll bring food when they wake up.' She walked back down the stairs and returned the food, hoping she wouldn't have to witness what she did today ever again. She was becoming attached to them, feeling protective of them. She checked her watch and returned to the lab.

"Hopefully things will get better soon." She couldn't have guessed the events yet to come, and they certainly weren't for the better.

Oiy this was much longer than the other chapters and I didn't want to stop there, but it's late and my wrist hurts. I had a friend read the part where Joey was suffering from the venom and she said I made Joey sound like a wuss. Believe me I didn't, any kind of venom is very painful and I was going by info I found on the internet on Neurotoxic venom.

**Drooping eyelids** (Ptosis). This occurs as the venom begins to paralyse the nerves which are then unable to communicate effectively to corresponding muscles. The "lesser" muscles are the first to be affected. In the case of Ptosis the levator and Mullers muscles (the muscles that control the eyelid), no longer respond due to the venoms' attack of the nervous system.

**Abdominal pain.** *

**Speech** becomes affected usually within 20 minutes after a bite. This is often extremely frustrating as the victim is still concious but is unable to communicate effectively. 

**Nausea** and **vomiting**. *

**Difficulty swallowing** (Dysphagia). The nerves responsible for the "swallowing" action (glossopharyngeal, vagus, and hypoglossal nerves) are unable to function properly which leads to throat constriction. This is extremly painful. 

* **Increased salivation** (saliva facilitates swallowing). This usually concides with dysphagia. The inability to swallow leads to an excessive production of saliva.  

* **Increased sweating**. Sweating is controlled by the Sympathetic nervous system and is primarily a thermoregulatory mechanism. Because the neurotoxic venom neutralises the nervous system the body gets so called "mixed signals". As a result of this a victim usually experiences increased sweating.

**Hallucination** and **confusion**.

* **Tachycardia** (increased heart rate), or **Brachycardia** (decreased heart rate). There are two nerve systems that regulate heart rate (Parasympathetic, and sympathetic nerves) along with two sets of chemicals called adrenergic and cholinergic. These bind to receptors which can either raise or lower heart rate, and control blood pressure.

 * **Respiratory muscle paralyses**. This occurs when the thoracic diaphragm no longer contracts and relaxes. The contraction and relaxation of the diaphragm alters the volume and air pressure inside which contributes to the process of breathing (respiration). This is extremely serious and usually starts developing between 1-3 hours after envenomation. * Oxygen deficiency in the tissue leads to the victim experiencing **restlessness**.

There were a lot more symptoms but I didn't want to make him suffer from ALL of them, and they are able to recover quickly because of their healing abilities. Sounds lame I know but if you don't like it then don't read the freaking story. I own Akim, Isa, Kasakabi and Zeke so far. I don't want to take too many things off of the Twilight New Moon movie, but when I say their huge I mean huge like in themovie. Also when They transform think of how they looked in the movie when they did, because I can't explain things like that very well. I was very happy with how they looked in the movie, I like underworld and all but I like werewolves that actually turn into actual wolves :P So yea review please but NO FLAMES!


	5. My Own Personal Injection

Okay then here is the fifth chapter, enjoy ^_^

**The Way We Used To Be**

'Oh god, why are my muscles sore?' Joey groaned as he slowly turned onto his side, he felt like someone stretched him way too hard or something. Warm breath tickled the back of his neck and he blushed. Turning his head slightly he smiled, Seto always looked so relax when asleep, yet so tense and mostly serious during the day. It was a welcome change. He cringed and rubbed a sore spot on his hip.

"Feel like I've been hit by a damn truck." He muttered and carefully sat up. He felt Seto sit up and he leaned onto the brunette's chest as arms encircled his waist.

"How do you feel?" He shivered as the hot breath fanned against his ear.

"Sore, what the hell happened?"

"You don't remember?" He thought hard for a while, but he only gave himself a headache.

"Not really no. I remember going back into that room below. He wanted to see if I could transform, I remember being bitten. Then I remember the pain, but that's it."

"Hmm, you were poisoned by an experiment that Kasakabi had you fight. Isa was worried about you for a while at first, so was I."

"Well I fell better now, so don't worry." He put his face in the crook of Seto's neck, nuzzling him. Seto kissed the top of his head.

"I will never stop worrying about you."

"We need to get stronger pup, we will get out of here eventually." Joey's eyes widened and he lifted his head to look at Seto.

"Seto, I don't think we can get out of here. Do you even remember the kind of security we went through in the tunnels? Plus, what do you think he'd do to us if we failed and got caught? He could kill us Seto!"

"Keep your voice down! That's why we need to get strong ok? Don't you think it's worth a try?"

"I told you that kind of talk was dangerous Seto." Both turned their heads to look at Isa as she leaned against the door. Seto glared.

"If we stay, he's going to kill us." She shook her head.

"You two are very valuable to him, his first success stories with the particular gene he gave you. He won't kill you believe me."

"Yes that is such a relief you have changed my mind at the last second." The sarcasm was very noticeable and Isa snorted and frowned at him.

"Escaping wouldn't be enough to get away from him, he would find you and bring you back here. Threaten any loved ones or friends you might have. To fully escape this man, you would have to kill him." Her eyes shone with unshed tears and her fists were clenched as she spoke.

"Isa? You ok?" Joey hesitantly stood and reached out a hand and waved it in front of her face.

"No actually I am not, I told you I would explain why I was here. I plan to do that now so sit back down." Joey slowly sat next to Seto and watched as Isa dragged the chair by the desk over close to them so their knees were almost touching.

"Before all of this madness started, Kasakabi was a teacher at a university. Throughout the years he had taught all kinds of science classes, but he put the most effort into teaching his students about genetics. It was an obsession, he was doing illegal work in his study on campus and spent night and day on his experiments. Another teacher was a close friend of his and they shared the same interest, only his friend was not as obsessed. When Kasakabi brought up the idea that we could gain an animal like appearance and instinct from being injected with their DNA, everyone thought he was mad. They soon found out about his illegal experiments and were ready to arrest him."

"That didn't happen I'm assuming?"

"You assume correctly. He vanished and no one could find him. He never went into how this place was built or how he managed to recruit Akim or Zeke or anyone else here. I don't think he quite trusts me with that information. After this place was built he found me while I was attending classes."

"Let me guess genetics?"

"Actually I was training to be a doctor, for some reason Kasakabi saw potential in me. He wanted me to leave with him it was so sudden and I didn't even know who he was. I had to refuse, back then he was not as…under control as he is today in terms of his mood. He got angry and demanded that I leave, or he would harm my family. He threatened my parents and my younger brother. I..I had to go with him, when I arrived he taught me everything he knew."

"He keeps you here by threatening to hurt your family if you leave." Joey's voice was hushed with sadness and pity.

"Yes, he is a very vengeful man. I have no right to tell you what to do, I can only warn you what he is capable of." Not another word was spoken until Joey and Seto asked to take showers. Afterwards they had some brunch and contemplated their plan of action or non-action.

" I know your pride is saying you'd rather die than be treated like this Seto, but…I think the fact that we have each other while were here would be enough to make it through." Seto held his head in his hands and sighed.

"It's not like we have any family that he could threaten."

"He would find us Seto! Find us and bring us back and probably treat us worse! I don't know if it's worth it."

"Take more time to think pup, this needs to be thought out." He couldn't help but begin to feel hesitant about his own suggestion. If Kasakabi did manage to destroy the world, he and Joey would die. Certainly this man was not capable of such an action though, was he? Were they safer here? He shook his head and groaned.

"Well I certainly hope you are feeling better Joseph, Isa wishes to conduct a check up. We cannot bring all the necessary equipment up the stairs so she wishes for you to come with me to the infirmary." Seto growled and glared but Kasakabi smiled and began to open the cell door. Seto stood in front of Joey, but fell to his knees with a gasp of pain as an electric shock went through his body.

"You really do overreact Kaiba, remember what I told you before? It would be in Joey's best interest if you cooperated."

"Bastard." He gritted his teeth and attempted to stand, only to have Joey force him down by pushing on his shoulder. He looked up at the blonde in confusion.

"It's ok Seto." Too shocked to move Seto could only watch as Joey willingly left with Kasakabi, who smiled and put his hand on Joey's shoulder.

"A wise decision." In a show of complete confidence Kasakabi did not turn of the electric fence, disappearing with Joey down the stairs. Seto clenched his hands and still stared at the stairs in a mixture of shock, anger and defeat. He did not want to show any kind of submission to this man, give him any sign that they had accepted their fate. Hadn't Joey just decided that for them though? He sat in a defeated heap, back against the metal bars. He had always been used to being in charge, he ran a company for god's sake! He was used to being obeyed and being treated like royalty. He knew that sounded selfish but it was true. To so easily submit to this man's will, practically _let _him hurt Joey. Maybe they would be better off here.

_ _

As they walked to the infirmary Joey couldn't believe what he had just done, he certainly didn't trust Kasakabi yet here he was. Willingly obeying him.

'As long as he doesn't hurt Seto I'll do whatever I can.' A determined look came upon his face and he stared straight ahead. Once the door to the infirmary opened, he looked around for Isa, not seeing her he faced Kasakabi with a confused expression. Confusion turned to horror and panic as he found himself being pushed onto the infirmary's bed. Kasakabi quickly straddled his waist and looked down at him with a smirk. Joey whimpered as his shirt was slowly lifted over his head. Kasakabi put his lips on Joey's ear and lightly nipped the earlobe.

"If you behave, I promise no harm will come to Kaiba." Realization sunk in and he squeezed his eyes shut in defeat, tears slowly forming and going down his cheeks.

"You know I have never been as attracted to an experiment before as I am to you. Beautiful golden hair, amber brown eyes." His hands went to Joey's belt and then undid the zipper, so slowly it was almost painful. He whimpered as he felt the jeans sliding off his hips.

"Don't worry, I will be gentle. Can't have Kaiba finding out now can we?" That did not offer any comfort at all, however, as Joey silently cried and submitted. He gasped in pain and bit his lip to keep from screaming as Kasakabi thrust into him all the way. He grasped the bed sheets and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to think of something else.

"I want to see your eyes Joseph." He sighed and opened them hesitantly, crying as he waited for it to be over.

'As long as Seto's safe.' He winced as he felt Kasakabi cum inside him, felt so dirty as he pulled out and smiled that fake smile at him.

"You're a good boy Joseph, I count on you behaving like this all the time. Get a towel and wash yourself." He didn't want to move, so subdued by what had just occurred. Seto would worry though, and he would only confirm any fears he had if he made him wait too long. Kasakabi got dressed and waited for Joey to clean up, watching him wince as he walked to the sink. The walk back was suspenseful, now that Seto's sense of smell was so much better would he be able to tell right away? He would have to lie, make an excuse. He was thinking too much of an excuse he hadn't even noticed that they were at the top of the stairs. To his surprise Seto looked to be sleeping against the cell bars.

"I knew he would overreact when we got back so I had Akim give him a low dose of tranquilizer. Take a shower, by the time you get out he will be awake." Joey could only nod as he walked into the cell and grabbed some new clothes before heading into the shower. He stripped and angrily threw the clothes in a corner and he waited for the water to become hot before stepping in. Determined to get the disgusting feeling off of him he scrubbed everywhere as hard as he could. He cried, sobbed and nearly screamed. Getting all of the distress out before he went back to Seto, lest he make him more suspicious than he probably already was. He pulled himself together, got out and wrapped the towel around his waist and got dressed in some sweatpants and a loose t-shirt. As soon as he was out Seto was in front of him.

"Are you alright?" He smiled lightly and nodded.

"Fine Seto, Isa gave me a shot and it made my muscles sore so I took a hot shower." It was a last second excuse but it seemed to work. Seto still looked unsure but after rolling up Joey's shirt and pant legs and finding nothing he sighed before pulling Joey into a hug.

"Seto?" He questioned as Seto kept him in that hug for a while.

"Do you think.." The hesitation in his voice made Joey a little nervous.

"We would be better off here?" Joey pulled away and looked at Seto with sad eyes, a small smile on his face with tears forming.

"I don't think we have a choice ya know?"

"We could try just once, to see what the security is like. Maybe we could bide our time and wait?"

"I dunno." Seto looked at the door to the cell and glared.

"I don't want to give up yet, I think we should at least try don't you?" Tears now falling freely down his face, Joey leaned into Seto and rested his forehead on his chest.

"Whatever you want to do, I'll be right next to ya." Seto could only hold Joey and continued to stare at the door a new look of determination on his face. A week had passed since that day and Kasakabi had taken Joey out everyday to continue to try and make him transform. With Seto being a little more compliant than usual the doctor went easy on Joey, but still managed to get him hurt. He was still convinced that he would only turn if he were desperate enough. He found that the injuries he got let him be rougher with Joey during their sensual one-sided acts, letting the excuse for his bruises be the exercise he had done. Though, Seto was starting to get suspicious. After being drugged every time Joey was to come back was one reason, whenever the blonde came back he looked subdued and nervous. He was pretty sure that one time he had caught a faint whiff of the doctor on Joey, but just thought that maybe it was from him walking Joey to the room he took him to.

"Joey." The two had just finished eating dinner a while ago and were now sitting together trying to relax. Trying being the keyword, Seto couldn't relax.

"Why do you smell like him?" He could feel Joey's body stiffen and his eyes narrowed at him.

"Seto I don't-"

"Please don't lie to me, I know what I smell. You're better off telling me the truth." Joey was crying now, his face buried in Seto's shirt.

"I can't." He mumbled.

"Bullshit." His voice wasn't raised but stern enough to let Joey know that he needed to be told, but that he also wouldn't be mad at him. He had learned to be patient with the blonde for he was still fragile and timid. Not as much as he was before but he didn't take any risks. Even before they were brought here Seto caught Joey flinching or jumping at sudden noises or movements. He definitely had improved and he just hoped that Joey wouldn't go back to being like that.

"It seems I've walked into a quarrel, I do hope everything is alright." Kasakabi approached the cell door and smiled at them. He unlocked the door and began to step inside as Seto stood in front of Joey.

"It wouldn't be very wise of you to come in here right now." He only closed the door behind him and continued to smile at them.

"Oh really now? What reason would there be for that?"

"You know very well why, if you ever lay another hand on him again-" He suddenly found himself on the floor being straddled by Kasakabi who had a very large grin on his face.

"I do believe I've heard you tell me that quite a few times Kaiba, however, I have always been able to somehow get my hands on him again. Do you know why?" Seto tried to lunge at Kasakabi's face but was immediately shoved back down.

"It is because I am in control here and what I say goes." It was at this point Akim walked in with syringe in hand.

"Don't you go near him!"

"No worries Kaiba, this is for you. Joey has another test today and I am tired of waiting, either he changes today or I will dispose of him." Seto growled and struggled to get out of Kasakabi's grasp as Akim came towards him.

"The hell you will, I won't let you!" Kasakabi's hand was close enough for just a second but he took it, he bit down on his hand and hard. The grip was loosened for just a moment but it was all he needed, he shoved him off and let his anger take over. He quickly changed to his wolf form and tried to lunge for Kasakabi, only to be blocked by Akim who tackled him to the ground.

"Seto!" Joey got up and tried to run to him but Kasakabi grabbed his arm with the hand that wasn't bleeding.

"It's time to go Joseph, we shall leave him to calm down." Joey struggled to get out of his grasp. He was a lot stronger than he looked apparently.

"No! I don't want to leave him!" A spark of annoyance showed on Kasakabi's face and his grip tightened. He took a deep breath then smiled sickly at Joey and raised a hand to Akim, signaling him to not give him the sedative.

"I have a solution, neither of you want to leave one another yet I have a test to do. Kaiba will watch this test. Zeke!" It took only a minute for Zeke to appear with an unhappy look on his face.

"Yes doctor?"

"Fetch some short chains we will be needing them soon." Zeke only nodded as he looked at them sadly before disappearing.

"So obedient that one is. He will no longer be needing the sedative Akim, I want him to watch this." Dread filled Seto's stomach as Zeke came back with three chains, Akim attached them all to his collar and gave him a slight tug.

"You take him down and restrain him first, I will follow you." The walk to the room was short and yet it felt so long, Joey felt like he was being lead to his execution. Kasakabi and Joey waited outside until Seto was chained to the wall securely. Kasakabi seemed to be looking behind him and he nodded at something in the corner of the hallway. Joey paled as four guards walked into the test room, each brandishing a katana but only one held a small pistol. Seto glared and growled at pretty much everyone in the room.

"Don't you fucking dare!"

"You are in no position to protest Kaiba, neither is Joseph. I have been patient and given you enough chances to transform. You do so today or you will be killed, I do not intend to keep a useless experiment. Especially a non-compliant one. You must kill them before they kill you Joseph, I know you can do it you just need to be pushed." Three of the guards stood around him and the one with the gun stood in the corner with Kasakabi. He nodded at the guards and they all came at him at once. He did a back flip and narrowly avoided having his stomach cut open, only to have his left side sliced when he landed. He rolled to the left then backwards, one of the guards came at him from behind while the other two came from the front. He dodged the katanas as he rolled to the side again but as he moved to the right one came up behind him again and brought the blade down on his shoulder. He yelped and grabbed his shoulder with one hand but had to swiftly duck to dodge yet another attack.

'They're too fast I can't dodge all of them!' Sweat rolled down his face and into his eyes but he had no time to wipe it.

"You'll never get anywhere if you just dodge them Joseph you must attack!" He gave no indication that he had heard them though.

'I can't kill them! They probably have families, maybe even kids. How can I kill them?'

"Joey look out!" He snapped out of it just in time to dodge a blow that could have taken his leg off, instead he just ended up with a huge gash on his hip.

'They don't seem to have a problem with killing me though, why should I hesitate to hurt them then?' He felt weird thinking something like that. He would never wish ill intent on someone unless they deserved it. He had to live, so they could get out of here one day. He spotted a guard waving the blade back, preparing for a strike. With speed he didn't even know he had he ran up to the guard and sank his fangs into his neck. Seto could only stare in shock and horror at seeing Joey do such a violent thing. Kasakabi, however, was clapping and laughing like he was at the movies. Blood dripped down from Joey's mouth and the guard lay motionless on the ground as blood poured out of the wound. The other three guards hesitated for only a moment before charging him again. This time the one with the gun participated and aimed a shot at Joey's chest. He only barely missed as Joey jumped out of the way to lunge at another guard. He didn't even flinch as the blade sank into his side in fact it only seemed to enrage him even more. As horrible as what was happening to the guards was, Seto was glad that Joey was holding him own. He could see the tell tale signs and the look in Joey's eyes told him he would indeed transform very soon. And he did, he didn't pay any of his wounds any mind as he started to breathe heavily. Seto watched as hands and feet became paws and the fascinating transformation played out before him. It was stunning, Joey had a dark brown coat with golden yellow eyes.

"At last! Bravo Joseph!" He didn't know why he thought Joey was supposed to magically snap out of it after he transformed, he sure didn't. He flew at the guard closest to him nearly ripping his arm off trying to get him to drop the katana before he ripped his neck open. Blood sprayed everywhere and on the walls as Joey continued to slaughter the last katana wielding guard before setting his sights on the one with the gun. The guard stood there shaking as he brought the gun up to shoot Joey in the head. Joey growled and starting running towards him with amazing speed, he was almost moving too quickly for anyone to follow. The guard screamed before firing a shot blindly just as Joey's face came flying at him, it managed to graze the side of his face before he met the same fate as the others. The combination of the massive blood loss and the first time transformation was finally taking its toll on him. Joey started panting heavily and his back legs gave out on him, blood flowed freely from his wounds. Kasakabi looked to Akim and gestured to him to check on Joey, when he got close enough he reached out to him. Big mistake on his part as Joey bit onto his hand and began shaking and tugging on it. For the first time Akim grimaced and tried to struggle out of his grasp.

"Release him Joseph." He either didn't hear him or just didn't want to listen as his grip tightened. He was forced to let go, however, as Kasakabi brought out his collar's controller and shocked him. Akim quickly pulled his hand put and stepped back. Seto's eyes widened as he watched the process of Joey turning back into his human form, he silently mused that it was more odd to watch him return to normal than it was to see him turn. He turned to Kasakabi who looked to be on cloud 9 beside himself with joy.

"Don't just stand there get him some help!" Snapping out of his reverie Kasakabi smiled at Akim.

"Carry him to the infirmary and have Isa patch him up." He eyed Zeke who stood in the corner, frowning at Joey.

"Please escort Kaiba back to the cell Zeke."

"I'm staying with him!"

"I'm afraid not." He handed Zeke the controller to Kaiba's collar and nodded at him. Zeke looked at Kaiba with a look that said 'Don't make this harder than it needs to be.' He glared but didn't move as Zeke undid the chains and asked him to follow him. He looked back at Joey one more time as they walked through the doorway.

"Why do you listen to him?" Zeke jumped as the silence was broken and looked at Seto with a sad smile.

"I think you already know why. It's a very bad idea to disobey the person that holds your life in his hands." Kaiba snorted and looked to the side as a guard walked by without giving either of them a glance.

"I know you don't like it, anyone with pride wouldn't like it. Still, if you're stuck here you might as well make it as painless as possible you know?" Seto stopped in his tracks and Zeke looked at him.

"Painless? Were you not paying attention to what just happened in there? Joey could have been killed!"

"Yes I saw, and I'm very sorry it happened but any thoughts of escaping should be abandoned now. Believe me I did try to get away, it wasn't pretty." Zeke lifted the hem of his shirt up and revealed a long scar that started at his right shoulder and looked like it continued to his left hip. Seto frowned and looked away.

"The security, it's pretty tight. Once you get outside though, man they act like the most precious government secret escaped. We would be too if Kasakabi had gotten clearance, unfortunately the rejection he received didn't stop him. I mean the whole deal too like cars and squads chasing you, the desert is a perfect location for this. There's nothing out there, it's easier to catch you when you're exhausted from dehydration and are overheated." Seto slowly walked up the stairs in deep thought and barely even noticed they had arrived at the cell. He walked in hesitantly and looked down towards the infirmary.

"Could you go to the infirmary? Tell Joey he's going to be ok for me?" Zeke nodded and began walking down the stairs. He didn't have a watch so he couldn't tell how much time had passed, but it didn't feel like too long that after Zeke's departure Kasakabi came walking up the stairs.

"Joseph is fine and Isa said that some of the wounds are already closing. He will be spending the night in the infirmary under Isa's watch. I will have a surprise for you after Joseph recovers, I cannot wait to show you." Seto held his tongue and all he could do was glare at this damned man, he had listened to Zeke's words and took them into careful consideration. He was completely right. Their lives were in the hands of this man. He could have them killed in a heartbeat if he wanted to and he had proven that today. The shame of obeying this man was great but the need to protect Joey surpassed it. He watched Kasakabi walk down the stairs and grinded his teeth. He jumped slightly as the cell door creaked open and Zeke came in with a tray in hand. It looked like soup and bread was for dinner.

"If you're not hungry then at least drink the water okay?" Zeke set the tray down and walked out and locked the door. Seto wasn't hungry, not in the least. How could he eat after what he had witnessed? Joey was a gentle person and the only time he had drawn blood was back when he got startled sometimes. He would never willingly hurt someone. He was thirsty though and he gulped the water down in three big gulps and panted heavily as he set the cup on the table. He narrowed his eyes as a lightheaded feeling came upon him, he slowly stood up only to have his knees buckle and he collapsed on the floor in an undignified position.

'That bastard drugged me.' Was the last thought to go through his head as sleep overcame him and everything went black.

_ _

"Oiy Seto rise and shine." His eyes fluttered open and he winced as the light burned his eyes. He groaned and slowly sat up. His eyes snapped open to glare at Zeke as he stood by the door grinning nervously.

"You freaking drugged me!" He scratched the back of his head and laughed.

"Yea well I figured you needed the rest and you wouldn't have been able to get any without it, so yea I did."

"How long was I out?"

"Around four hours, Joey's injuries have all closed but he's still a little sore. I woke you up because Isa said Kasakabi had something to show you."

"Great…you don't know what it is?"

"Not a clue, come on I have to take you to a holding room."

"Holding room?"

"Like I said, I have no idea." Seto slowly stood up and grabbed onto the desk as the room spinned for a couple of seconds. The two walked down the stairs and headed towards the infirmary but followed the wall to the right until they came to a door where Zeke had to show a security ID badge and Seto had to show his tag. The guard let them through and pointed to one of the many doors down a hallway to their right. Zeke stopped and knocked before slowly opening the door and both of them stepped through. A lone light hung in the center of the ceiling giving the room an eerie shadowy look. Under that light was a metal cage with a blanket over it, Seto could hear some slight movement under it.

"Glad to see you're up Kaiba, as I'm sure Zeke has told you I have something important and exciting to show you. Zeke, you may leave for now but I will call you back soon."

"Yes doctor." Seto watched at Zeke left and closed the door behind him. Kasakabi walked in front of the cage and grinned.

"Seto I want you to remove this blanket please." Seto stared at the cage with a skeptical look on his face.

"I'm not going to find a dead body or anything under there am I?" Kasakabi brought a hand to his heart and a fake look of hurt came onto his face.

"Why Kaiba I'm wounded, for you to think I would play such a cruel joke!" Seto growled and approached the cage and ripped the blanket off. It was a body, but certainly not a dead one. Joey lay curled up asleep in the center of the cage, a line of drool making it's way down the side of his mouth.

"Why is he in there?" Kasakabi dug through a deep pocket in his coat and brought out a needle filled with a clear liquid.

"Joseph hesitated to defend himself for a while, he got quite injured for that. I was suggesting to Isa a possible way for him to defend himself, without the hesitation." Seto looked at the needle in Kasakabi's hands.

"This injection is supposed to spur quite a reaction in him, making him more…shall we say aggressive?"

"What's stopping him from being able to tell us apart from the enemy if it'll make him so violent?"

"That is what the tests are for, this will be the first injection he's been given. From the result I get today I will have Isa adjust it."

"If you really want to destroy the world, why do we need to learn to fight like this? Aren't there supposed to be no survivors?" Kasakabi grinned and waved a finger at Seto.

"I don't want to destroy the world. I just want to erase humanity, well most of it anyway. There shouldn't be many people left out there afterwards but you never know, we tend to be like cockroaches and can sometimes make our way through the toughest of trials. As for the fighting, this isn't the only lab I have you know. Some of my older experiments, lets say the failed ones are elsewhere. They will escape from the wreckage and roam free. I also need you to be able to pick up more people for me to work on." A sickened look came over Seto's face and he glared at Kasakabi.

"Why would we help you out with that?" Kasakabi smiled sadly and shook his head. He went around to the other side of the cage to Joey's left arm and crouched down.

"Dear Seto, I thought by now you would know." Before Seto had any chance to complain or even open his mouth Kasakabi injected the liquid into Joey's arm.

"People usually don't have good reactions to things they can't explain or seem out of the ordinary. Take homosexuality for example, a lot of people don't think it's right. I for one could care less, but we react violently. Do you really suppose you two could live normally looking like you do? What would happen if someone saw you? What would they do to you? To Joseph?" Seto's hand touched the Inu ear and his tongue flicked against a fang. He did have a point, it wasn't like they could wear hats all hours of the day. He flinched as his mind went back to a news report about someone who was beaten to death just because his or her eyes were purple. Someone had apparently thought the eyes were those of a demon. A groan made Seto turn his eyes to Joey, who was sitting up and breathing heavily. He moved closer to the cage and put his hand through the bars to comfort him. That turned out to be a big mistake on his part. As soon as his hand had made contact with Joey's shoulder a set of fangs were buried in his hand, he grunted in pain and stiffened.

"I thought you were smarter than that Kaiba you really should have known better." Joey's eyes held no indication that he recognized Seto as he began growling and promptly turned into his wolf form. Seto winced as the fangs grew in size and went deeper into his hand. Joey's hackles were up and his ears were straight back, he gave no indication that he would be letting go anytime soon as he slightly tugged on Seto's hand. Seto winced and glared at Kasakabi who was laughing lightly.

"Splendid it worked, needs to be modified though it looks like." He crouched next to Seto and smiled at Joey who let go of Seto's hand and began trying to chew the bars of the cage. Seto slid back quickly and watched as skin came back together and healed rather quickly.

"You're going to make him into a killing machine."

"On the contrary, I am going to make him more efficient. Something else to think about Seto, no doubt you have had plans or thoughts of escape as everyone here once had. Not one of my experiments was ever a challenge to catch and bring back, it was thrilling to try though." Seto scowled.

'He thinks it's a game.'

"I suggest you get rid of any of those thoughts. The desert is very harsh, there is hardly any shade out there and barely any water. One of my experiments even passed away out there once, poor thing was young too maybe younger than the two of you. I would rather you not try but if you ever do, try to make it as entertaining as possible it does get boring around here." The sound of metal being bent brought their attention back to Joey, who had managed to chew half way through one of the bars.

"Well I must get going, I must inform Isa of the result and help figure out how much of an adjustment the injection needs. Zeke will come to fetch you quickly." Without any other words at all Kasakabi walked out of the room, leaving Seto with a rabid Joey. He sighed and turned to look at his boyfriend, a growl rising through his throat. He knew they had nowhere to go, that they probably would not survive in the dessert for long. They couldn't stay here though. They would have to play along. Play along until Kasakabi trusted them enough, and when the time was right they would make their escape. He barely blinked as Zeke walked in and made a movement to follow him. He turned back to Joey once more before walking back to the cell.

"I'll give you a heads up before Joey will be returning." Seto just nodded and stared at the infirmary. He waited, and waited, and he waited some more. God it felt like forever to him, when in reality it had been three hours as Zeke had informed him.

_ _

So here he was again, in the infirmary and his body feeling like it was run over by a truck…again. He slowly opened his eyes and carefully sat up, but was quick to lie back down as a wave of nausea came over him. Delicate hands rested on hi shoulders and gently pushed him down the rest of the way.

"Don't get up yet, the injection hasn't completely worn off yet." Wait, injection? His eyes widened as he flashed back to what he had done earlier. Those people, he had killed those people so easily. A hand came to his mouth and he jumped off the bed but landed on his rear, Isa quickly brought a garbage can to him right before he was violently ill. She rubbed his back in comfort and whispered re-assuring words to him. He sat back against the side of the bed breathing heavily, tears ran down his face and he closed his eyes against the harsh light the lamp was giving off.

"It's ok Joey, it's alright you're fine now." Joey shook his head slowly. Isa sighed and grabbed onto his arm and hauled him back onto the bed. She ran a small towel under some cold water, wrung it out and put it on his forehead.

"Just rest, you'll get better sooner and then you can see Seto again." Seto, oh god what would he think? He _murdered_ four people for god's sake! She heard him mumble but hadn't heard him, she put her ear close to his face.

"What?" He opened his eyes and her heart nearly broke at the look in his eyes.

"I'm sorry." He sounded so small and so scared. She gently moved a piece of hair out of his eyes and smiled sadly at him.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, you would have died if you hadn't done it." He curled in on himself and whined.

"I know you already have enough on your mind, but I need to explain something to you alright?" His head slowly poked out from under his arms and he nodded at her.

"Kasakabi asked me to make an injection for you, he felt that your reaction time was off. That you should have transformed sooner right as you learned your life was in danger." He looked at her curiously and sniffled, the last of his tears drying up.

"An injection?"

"Yes, one that would make you able to transform to defend yourself without a second thought. It would make you aggressive, and I've been trying to find the perfect balance."

"Why can't I just learn on my own and practice? I don't need an injection." He said irritably. Isa smiled and shook her head.

"Kasakabi is not a patient man as I am sure you have noticed. He wants to send you two out on a sort of trial mission, to see how obedient you are." Joey snorted.

"You mean he wants to "test-drive" us."

"I guess you could say that. How do you feel now?"

"I'm nervous and irritated, but my stomach feels much better thank you." The sarcasm was easily detected and Isa shook her head and silently laughed.

"I feel like I've missed half the day but I was awake, a good chunk of it's gone. Does the injection-"

"It has made you black out yes, I am hoping I can get rid of that side effect soon. You're not really putting up as much of a fuss as I thought you would."

"Yea well, maybe I'm just coming to terms with the situation. Seto, he's strong and stubborn. He still thinks we can leave, but maybe he's right and I'm the one givin up too easily. I don't know, lately I've been to tired to even think." He sighed and closed his eyes.

"Hmm well I don't want to overwhelm your body, so how about I take you back to the cell for an hour or two? It is lunch after all."

"I'm not hungry." A loud rumbling noise came from Joey's stomach and he blushed.

"Well, maybe just a little bit."

"Alright then, let's go." Isa stood next to the bed as Joey slid off and she held his arm to steady him as he wobbled when he started to walk. It took him a couple steps but he was able to walk on his own and up the stairs. Seto sat against the metal bars of the cell next to the door, eagerly awaiting Joey's arrival. Joey smiled upon seeing Seto, instantly brightening his mood. He entered the cell and sat next to Seto, a small smile on his face as he rest his head on the brunette's lap. A content sigh escaped his lips as Seto's hand combed through his hair and playfully tugged on one of his ears.

"Setoooo that hurts." Seto smirked and leaned down, pressing his lips against Joey's. Joey whimpered as Seto's tongue ran along his lover lip before lightly biting it, asking for entry. It seemed like the kiss lasted forever and eventually the two came up for air, Joey smiled at Seto and he returned it. Suddenly everything felt ok at the moment. They sat and enjoyed the peace until lunch came, after Zeke disappeared down the stairs Joey sighed and leaned his head on Seto's shoulder.

"We'll get out of here Joey, I guarantee it." Joey lifted his head from Seto's shoulder and looked at him with a surprised look.

"Seto I don't-"

"We just have to wait, it will probably take a while until we can earn his trust." Joey looked down at the floor before looking back at Seto, a concerned look on his face.

"When the time is right, we will escape. It won't be fun pup, but we have to do as he says for now." Joey smiled sadly and nodded. He knew it was going to be hard, it would be a while before they would leave. Maybe they wouldn't even escape at all, but he had to hand it to Seto for being so hopeful and strong willed. He chuckled lightly and when Seto looked at him in confusion he grinned.

"It's gonna be kinda funny watchin ya try to keep your big mouth shut to make yourself look all obedient." Seto snorted and wrapped his arms around Joey's waist, breathing in the blonde's scent as he leaned into the embrace with the food currently forgotten.

"It will indeed. He's going to hurt us you know, he'll probably do it a lot. I'm going to protect you the best I can pup." Joey snuggled into Seto's chest and sighed.

"I trust ya Seto." He quickly leaned up and kissed the tip of his nose.

Joey had inhaled his food while Seto sweat dropped and ate at a more leisurely pace. Occasionally having to smack the blonde's back when he didn't chew properly.

"Why don't you ever chew?"

"I'm hungry, get off my back." Joey sighed contently and patted his extended belly as he sat back in the chair.

"Looks like you finished just in time, come on Joey its time to go back." Seto walked Joey to the door and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

"Be good pup." Joey waved back and grinned.

"Yea yea, I should be telling you that. You have a bigger attitude problem than I do." Seto chuckled and watched Joey and Isa go down the stairs. He knew Joey had been in pain, knew that he was still sad about the fact that he had killed those people. He chose to avoid it, and Seto didn't want to upset him by bringing it up. Whatever he could do to take his puppy's mind off of it, he would do it. The next few months would be difficult, but they would pull through.

_ _ _

I wanted to go on longer but I thought this was a good place to stop for now. I'm not very good at writing action or fluff scenes so bear with me on that. Kasakabi and Isa's backgrounds sound horrible, I feel like I didn't make it very believable and I am so sorry! Poor Isa though. Will she ever see her family again? What about Zeke's and Akim's past? I have no idea about those two yet but I'll try to make their stories better if I can. Yes yes I know Seto has seemingly forgotten about what Kasakabi was doing to Joey. Believe me this will be brought up again…just not for a while ^^; It will be a while until they get their revenge and finally leave, it happens in the sequel actually which I will be revising as soon as this is done. So much to do, as always please review but no flames please, I have a delicate ego ^_^


	6. The Color Of Africa

Hello there! Hope you are all enjoying the story so far, I've been having some trouble with what should occur next, hopefully this won't be a mindless filler chapter, though a lot of my chapters are probably like that ^_^; I heard Twilight New Moon is coming on dvd soon and I am so freaking excited, but of course by the time you are reading this it will probably already have been out for a little while. Yes I have also noticed that my grammar is off but bare with me please lol anyway, here is the sixth chapter enjoy!

**The Way We Used To Be**

It had only been a month although it had felt like much longer. A month since they devoted themselves to acting like they were obedient to get on Kasakabi's good side. It had definitely been rough, but Joey and Seto had gotten stronger along the way. Joey could turn into his wolf form whenever he wanted and could control himself, but he still had trouble being aggressive. That led to Isa continuing her journey to find the perfect balance in his injection. It was almost complete but some side effects needed to be taken care of. Since Seto had been cooperating, Kasakabi hadn't touched Joey since, in that way anyway. There were still times when the doctor was aggressive, but that was to be expected. As Joey had predicted it was interesting to see Seto trying to not retaliate. He still remained rightfully protective of Joey though, that much he was forgiven for. Unfortunately Seto and Joey had a lot of spare time on their hands but not many places to go. Kasakabi didn't trust them enough to let them wander outside as they pleased, but had them accompanied by Zeke or sometimes a guard. He rarely let them go outside even with someone. Today was a special event though. Kasakabi had stopped by their cell earlier and told them that today he was going to show them something.

"Hello Seto, Joey. Kasakabi sent me to get you two, he says he wants to show you something." Seto sighed and bent the side of the page of the book he was reading.

"Your timing is horrible Zeke do you know that?" Zeke smirked and laughed.

"Yea well you know how much I love annoying you." Joey rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Any idea what it is he wants to show us?"

"Not a clue, he seemed very excited about it though."

"Well let's not keep him waiting then." Joey said as he jumped off the bed and stretched. Seto grunted and eventually stood up with a disappointed look on his face.

"You're really engrossed in that book aren't you?" Zeke asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well it's not like there's much else to do now is there?"

"He's used to doin paperwork and business stuff all the time, don't mind him." Joey said and he waved a hand dismissively.

"Before I found you yes I was." Joey grinned.

"Nope, even after ya found me ya had to bring paperwork home." Seto grumbled and Joey laughed while he put two hands behind his head as he walked. Indeed Joey's attitude had improved quite a bit in the last month. He seemed a bit more carefree now, but still had his submissive moments. Zeke led them to the holding area and they walked down the narrow hallway that veered to the right. It continued for about a hundred feet before a small staircase appeared that led to what seemed like a sub-basement. Ok, make that a sub military hangar. Seto and Joey's eyes widened as they looked around the huge area. In the middle of it was what looked to be a huge computer with a forty-inch screen. Right next to the computer, they didn't even know what it was. It was some sort of gigantic machine with all sorts of levers and buttons on one side. It was under a part of the ceiling that opened a small amount, but it didn't directly open to the surface. There seemed to be a reinforced tunnel that went to the surface.

"Wow." That one word that came from Zeke's mouth pretty much summed it up for everyone. Kasakabi appeared from behind the computer with a look of accomplishment on his face.

"Amazing is it not? It's taken quite some time but it is almost finished."

"What is it?" Kasakabi turned to Zeke and smiled.

"So glad you asked. This is the Doomsday device." (1)

"So this is it huh? You sure it's going to work?"

"I'm insulted that you would question it Zeke." He feigned a hurt look but grinned.

"Pretty soon, humanity will be all but lost. That is why, I am entrusting the two of you to collect more specimens for me both human and animal alike. You will be accompanied by guards as some of these animals will require restraint." He looked at a map on a nearby wall that looked to be of the area they were in, unfortunately the text of their whereabouts were blocked by another piece of paper.

"It has also come to my attention that there have been some government cockroaches patrolling the area. We cant have that now can we?" He scratched his chin before he suddenly smiled and he looked at Zeke.

"How do you feel about going on a road trip my friend?"

"It would be nice to get out for a bit, how long a trip are we talking here?"

"Let's just say you'll be sleeping in the vans." Zeke clasped his hands together and grinned eagerly.

"Now that's what I'm talking about, when will we be going?"

"Early tomorrow morning, before it gets too hot."

"Perfect. I'll gather the supplies." Zeke went back up the stairs leaving Joey and Seto staring around the room awkwardly.

"I will give the two of you a list of the animals we will be needing samples from, I will also give you the locations of the government agents."

"Nile crocodile, cheetah, lion, spotted hyena and plains zebra." Seto read every animal aloud and his eyes narrowed.

"Am I correct to assume we are in Africa then?"

"Correct, we are in Namibia in the Kalahari Desert. You will be traveling to Botswana to The Okavango delta."

"Aww man, I hate the heat." Joey whined and sighed. Seto patted his back.

"You'll live."

"Just get a good night's rest and pack yourselves a pair of clothing, it shouldn't take very long." Joey looked back at the giant machine and walked up to it, he lightly poked it and looked at Kasakabi in confusion.

"How is this thing supposed to work anyway?"

"Well, it's a little complicated. It's basically an atomic bomb, just a bigger one that will effect a much larger portion of earth. The energy released will be equivalent to almost twenty-five kilotons of TNT. The energy needed from the tank to launch this bomb was thought to be impossible but apparently they figured something out."

"This one bomb is going to kill everyone?"

"No, I have multiple launching sites. They have gone undetected for years so far. After the initial launch we will have to wait until the "black rain" has stopped." (2) Joey had to refrain himself from glaring at the doctor, he couldn't believe they were going to let this happen. So many people were going to die.

"I will fill you in on the details later, right now you should be going back. I believe it's almost time for dinner." He said looking at his wristwatch. Seto had to grab Joey's hand and gently pulled him along. He kept glancing back at Joey as they made their way through the hall and back up the stairs to the cell.

"You ok?" Joey looked up at Seto and smiled sadly.

"It's just hard to believe ya know? First all this DNA stuff and now this maniac wants to kill everyone?"

"It is a cliché." Seto's attempt at making Joey laugh was a half success, he laughed but tears built up in his eyes. He took Joey's hand and led him to the bed where they sat down together.

"It is quite unbelievable, but it's happening. We have Kasakabi's trust and even if it's not all of it that's still enough for him to slip up."

"He knows were going to try I think."

"Then why would he be letting us go outside?"

"Maybe he knows we aren't gonna try this time, he seems to know us and our behavior and what not pretty well now."

"We'll enjoy the freedom we will have during this retrieval. Unfortunately we are a great deal away from home, but we'll find a way. We always do." Joey smiled lightly and put his head on Seto's shoulders. Seto turned his head to give Joey a kiss on the forehead.

_**Ruuumble**_

"…"

"I'm hungry…."

"Yes I noticed." Joey lifted his head and sniffed the air, his eyes widened and he grinned.

"Dinner smells good I can't wait. I wonder what Zeke will cook on the trip."

"Who knows." Seto's disinterest was evident and he lay down on the bed to continue reading his book. Joey pouted.

"Setoooo." Nothing. He poked the brunette in the side and smirked as his body tensed.

"Seeeeetoooooo." Still nothing. Seto had relaxed his body once again, thinking the blonde was done with whatever he was trying to do. A sudden sharp pain in his neck made him yelp and drop his book. He turned to glare at Joey, who was grinning like a mad man.

"Setooooooooooooo!"

"What! What do you want?" Joey lips covered his own in a silent answer. It was a quick kiss but when Joey pulled away Seto grabbed his shirt and pulled him back down. The kiss became deeper and more affectionate as time went by. Joey straddled Seto's waist and lightly grinded his hips into Seto's, making him moan into the kiss. They pulled away slowly, staring into each other's eyes asking a silent question. Joey crawled off of Seto and began walking to the bathroom, he turned to smile a Seto while swaying his hips as he walked. He giggled as Seto wrapped his arms around him and began nibbling his neck, the two of them disappearing into the bathroom. A few minutes later Zeke came up the stairs carrying food trays.

"Okay guys dinner is-" He glanced around the cell curiously. The sink being turned on relieved his worries, the door didn't have to be locked anymore but they still had to be supervised when they walked around. He was about to exit the cell when a particularly loud moan made him stop in his tracks. Curious, he walked to the door and put his ear against it.

"_Ahh Seto please!" _

_A slight pause._

"_Please what?"_

_A whimper and another moan._

"_Please more!" _

Zeke's eyes widened as a large blush spread across his face. He gulped and blinked as he felt something trickling down his nose. He jumped in surprise as Joey moaned really loudly this time.

'Oh god, Seto would kill me. I should go.' Another moan this time from Seto made him quicken his pace as he almost jogged out of the cell. He saw Isa walking up the stairs and gulped. When she saw his red face she looked at him curiously.

"Zeke are you ok? Your face is really red." He mutely nodded and grabbed her arm, dragging her with him down the stairs.

"Zeke! What are you doing I have to give them something!" Zeke's blush darkened and he shook his head.

"You don't want to go up there right now, trust me."

_ _ _ _

Seto collapsed heavily against Joey's bare chest, gulping for air as sweat poured off both their bodies. The bathroom wasn't large but the shower had had enough space for them and their, activities. Seto leaned his head down and kissed the tip of Joey's nose. The blonde's eyes slowly opened and he lazily smiled at Seto and lightly kissed his lips.

"Tired now pup?" He lightly teased. A smack on the arm was the response he got.

"Shut up." A blush graced Joey's face and he looked to the side.

"Mm we should take a shower now pup." Joey nodded and Seto gave him a hand up and the other took it. Seto turned on the shower and when the water got hot he put his arms around Joey's waist and gave his neck a love bite.

"Setooo!" Joey whined as Seto's hand went a little too far down.

"Care for another round pup?" He easily caught Joey as the blonde jumped on him and wrapped his legs around his waist.

_ _ _ _

"I better not be sore tomorrow." Joey grumbled as they walked out of the bathroom with towels around their waists.

"You could always ask for some ice." Seto walked up behind him and swiftly smacked the blonde's ass. Joey yelped and a blush spread across his face, making his glare a lot less effective than it already would have been.

"You love it." Seto smirked as Joey's blush spread and he walked away grumbling. As they got dressed Akim came up the stairs, Seto glared as he noticed Akim stared at Joey. Joey of course had no idea he was being looked at as he collapsed onto the bed.

"Need something?" Akim snapped his gaze to Seto.

"Miss Isa has requested that I escort you to the infirmary immediately." Seto walked to Joey and gently nudged him.

"We have to go see Isa pup." Joey groaned and rolled onto his stomach, bringing the pillow over his head.

"But I'm _tired _Seto!" He grabbed the pillow from Joey and whacked him on the head with it.

"Come on lazy ass." Joey peeked his head out from under his arms and grinned.

"But you love my ass, right?" Seto smacked him on the head again and began walking out of the cell with a scowl and blush. Joey giggled as he pulled on a shirt and chased after Seto, leaving Akim slightly flustered and looking at them with a curious gaze.

"Hey Seto wait up!"

"Don't touch me!"

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

"Really?" Joey looked at Isa with a questioning glance.

"Yes. It's like what you had in your neck before Joey, except it is an improved chip. You won't be needing those collars anymore." Isa undid Seto's collar and smiled as he sighed.

"That's better." She did the same to Joey's and he rolled his neck with a loud crack.

"The injection will hurt a little but it'll be quick, so who wants to go first then?" Joey sweat dropped and brought his hands up.

"Ah, Seto will go first, wont ya?" He lightly shoved Seto closer to Isa and scooted to the back of the room grinning nervously. Isa looked at Seto in confusion.

"He hates needles."

"Ah I see. Well then, please lie on your stomach Seto." Seto lay on his back and cringed as his sensitive nose picked up the strong scent of the alcohol swab on his neck.

"Ready?" Seto grunted and nodded. He couldn't help but cringe as the needle went in deep. He could almost feel the small chip going into his neck.

"All done! Okay Joey your turn."

"…"

"Joey?" Seto growled and walked briskly towards Joey, who stood in the corner ignoring them as if his life depended on it.

"It'll be over in a second get over here you wimp!" He grabbed Joey by the back of the shirt and the blonde tried in vain to flail out of his grasp.

"But Seto I don't wanna!"

"Too bad, it only hurts for a second anyway."

"Setooo!"

"Just lie still idiot!" Isa sweat dropped and moved to stand next to Joey. She put her hand on his shoulder.

"If you want I could give you a slight numbing injection?" Seto glared at her.

"No just do it, he's being a baby." She blinked and looked at Joey who had his eyes squeezed shut. She rubbed the alcohol on his neck and hesitantly picked up the needle.

"Ready Joey?" He nodded and squeezed his eyes shut again, Seto ran a hand through his hair to comfort him.

"You're done Joey." He opened his eyes and blinked in confusion.

"See you were being a baby."

"But Seto needles are supposed to hurt!"

"Maybe you've developed a thicker skin?" Joey grinned and sat up.

"Well I ain't gonna complain." He stretched his arms above his head.

_**Groooowl**_

"…"

"Seto I'm-"

"Hungry, I know." Isa could barely contain her laughter as Joey sheepishly smiled and rubbed his stomach.

"Zeke was supposed to drop off your dinner a bit ago, I'll remind him in a minute. You guys can go on back now. There might be some soreness at the injection site later."

"Thank you Isa." Joey looped his arm around Seto's and grinned as they walked back to the cell. At the top of the stairs Zeke was waiting for them, trays in hand and a small blush on his face.

"Oh yea food I'm starving!"

"You're always hungry."

"Why do you always hafta tease me?"

"You make it too easy."

"You guys are like a married couple, do you know that?" Joey blushed and Seto glared at him.

"Well here's dinner. I also want to explain what's going to be happening tomorrow night, protocol and all that."

"We are going to be leaving at exactly six breakfast will be served at five. Unless the government gives us any trouble this will be a pretty quick trip lasting two days at the most. I have already gathered all the supplies for flash freezing the DNA. Isa also gave me these." Zeke took out four injections out of the duffel bag.

"These are the injections Isa came up with for Joey. She said the side effects are now gone."

"Great, more needles." He sighed and Seto rubbed his back.

"What kind of trouble?"

"As Kasakabi said government have been seen walking around the area, if we don't steer them away from the area or get rid of them, we will be discovered."

"Kasakabi said that they didn't know about this though."

"They don't, but their suspicious. I trust Isa told you about her past? Kasakabi's as well? He disappeared before he could get caught, they know he's alive somewhere. We have to tread carefully."

"Well I suppose that's all I should inform you of, enjoy your dinner and get a good sleep." As Zeke walked out of the room Joey sighed.

"Well at least we get to go out, can't wait to get some fresh air!"

"It is getting stuffy down here isn't it?" Joey nodded and laid back on the bed as he finished his meal.

"Wish we didn't have to leave so damn early though." He muttered and closed his eyes.

"I'd think you would be used to getting up early by now."

"Yea well getting up at nine is one thing but five? That's way too early."

"You'll live."

"Love you too, cranky pants." Seto smirked and made his way towards the bed. Joey let out a surprised yelp as Seto straddled him.

"Anything I can do to make you feel better?" He whispered seductively and nipped the blonde's earlobe. Joey whimpered and bucked his hips as Seto's hand rubbed against him.

"We just took a shower ya know." Seto lifted his shirt off and began to pull Joey's off.

"I'm willing to take another one."

"Ahhh Seto! If were gonna do this we should go to the bathroom." Seto nipped Joey's nipple and gently sucked it, making Joey writhe under him.

"The possibility of being caught is a turn on." Joey blushed and looked around nervously, but moaned loudly as Seto reached into his pants and rubbed his arousal.

"You know if you're going to do that you might want to go where others won't see you." Joey yelped and pushed Seto off the bed as his face flushed bright red. His blush only deepened upon seeing the new face. He looked to be a little shorter than Joey and had feminine curves. He wore tight dark gray jeans that had rips on the knees. He had on a white wife beater that had been cut so his stomach was showing. On his left side close to his hip was a tattoo of a black Egyptian cat. He couldn't have been more than eighteen and his voice was gentle and sort of high pitched. The boy smiled and put his hands on his hips.

"Whatchya staring at?" Joey blushed and looked away, making the boy giggle.

"My name is Damon, pleasure to meet you." Damon moved closer to them and into the cell, giving them a better view of him. His shoulder length hair was platinum blonde and unruly and spiky. His eyes were a light blue and the pupils were slitted, upon closer inspection his nails were sharp giving them a claw like appearance. Joey had to do a double take as a black and white tiger like tail rose over Damon's head and the tip wiggled around.

"How come we've never seen you around?" Damon grinned and skipped over to Seto, his tail wrapped around the brunette's wrist.

"I sleep a lot, I like to stay in one place for a while. I smelled something different so I came out to see." Seto carefully uncurled the appendage from his wrist and tossed Joey his shirt while he proceeded to put his on.

"You could have just left us alone you know." Seto muttered and sat on the bed. Damon chuckled and shook his head.

"Afraid not, Kasakabi's going to be paying you a visit in a couple of minutes. Figured I'd spare you the embarrassment." Seto raised an eyebrow.

"As if you seeing is any less embarrassing."

"Aww come on I'm harmless, not like there's nothing you have that I haven't seen before." He leapt over to Joey and wrapped his arms around his neck.

"Though you'd better keep a closer eye on your boyfriend here, he's a cutie." He tickled Joey's chin causing him to blush even more, if that was even possible. Seto growled and before anyone could blink, Damon was thrown outside the cell. He hopped back on his feet and brought his hands up.

"Hey I mean no harm friend, just being friendly."

"A little _too _friendly." Damon shrugged and his tail wiggled behind him.

"It's fine Seto, if I had a choice I would rather him see than Kasakabi. Besides it's not like we were naked ya know?" Seto snorted and continued to glare at Damon, who slinked back into the cell and jumped onto the mattress perching on it.

"So when did you guys get here?"

"I think it's been a little over a month." Damon looked at them in surprise.

"Really? I didn't even notice you guys until late last night."

"How about you? How long have you been here?" Damon seemed to think for a minute before shrugging. He stood on the bed and did a back flip onto the top of the bookcase that was next to the bed and sat down.

"It's definitely been a long time, I don't even remember."

"I see you two have met Damon." All of them turned their heads to look at Kasakabi as he stood at the door of the cell. He frowned at Damon, who grinned and waved.

"How did you get out Damon? I thought Akim was supposed to keep an eye on you." Damon rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Akim is so boring and serious, I left while he was eating. I came to check out the fresh meat, I'd much rather be in their company."

"If you wanted out you could have just asked me."

"The last time I told Akim to ask you if I could come out he said, and I quote, "too bad I'm busy." He never asks you when I tell him to." Kasakabi sighed.

"Alright then, every now and then I will stop by and ask you myself. How does that sound?"

"Sounds great! Oh! Can you tell Zeke to come up here?" Kasakabi's lips twitched upright into a faint smile, silent laughter behind his eyes.

"I will."

"Sweet! Don't tell him I'm here though." The doctor waved a hand in the air as he walked away.

"No worries, your presence will be unknown to him." Damon pumped a hand into the air and laughed. He turned to Seto and grinned.

"You guys have seen Zeke right? Nice hunk of meat he is, all those muscles." Seto rolled his eyes and Joey smirked, he went over to Seto and wrapped his arms around his waist.

"Not as sexy as my Seto." Damon clapped his hands together and gleefully smiled.

"Oooh shall we make this fun? Let's have a contest!" Seto's eyes widened and he growled.

"I will not take part in anything either of you come up with."

"Oh you're spunky, you must be the seme during relations am I right?" Seto blushed and growled while Joey giggled. Suddenly, Damon's ears perked up and is tail twitched, he grinned and held a finger to his mouth as he hid behind the desk near the door. Zeke appeared at the tops of the steps and walked into the room.

"Kasakabi said you two needed something?"

"ZEKE!" He never knew what hit him, the poor soul. Zeke and Damon landed in an undignified heap of tangled limbs on the floor. Damon threw his arms around Zeke's neck and showered his face with kisses.

"How I missed you my love!" Zeke sputtered and blushed and Joey couldn't hold in the laughter any longer. The sight was just too hilarious.

"Damon, he can't breathe." Indeed Zeke's face was slowly turning blue. Damon quickly let go of his neck and hopped off of him.

"You don't visit me anymore Zekie!" Seto snickered.

"Zekie?" Damon nodded and turned to Zeke.

"Were going to have a contest with Joey and Seto Zeke!" Zeke's face paled and he groaned and Seto glared and crossed his arms.

"No were not!" Joey smacked his arm.

"Yes we are, we might as well have some fun before we leave tomorrow."

"You're leaving?! But we just met!" Damon was near tears and Joey waved his hands frantically.

"Were not leaving forever, we just have to get stuff and we'll be back in a couple of days!" Just like that Damon was smiling and hugging Joey.

"Thank god, I've been pretty lonely for a while now." He glared at Zeke who sighed.

"I'm sorry ok? Last time I tried to give you your food Akim just took it and sent me away." Damon snarled and linked his arm with Zekes.

"What a jerk." Zeke blushed and looked away.

"So, about this contest?"

"Joey!"

"What?"

"No!"

"I wasn't asking you! I wanna see who wins!" Zeke sighed and shook his head.

"So what is this contest everyone keeps mentioning?" Damon grinned and poked him in the side.

"I told them you were sexy but Joey said you weren't as sexy as Seto so yea."

"What would this contest involve?"

"Hot shirtless men of course!"

"Of course…" Damon put his hands on his hips and looked to be deep in thought.

"We'll need a judge, Joey and I can't do that it wouldn't be fair."

"Oh! What about Isa?"

"Yea she's the only person we can really ask, no way am I asking Kasakabi and I'm mad at Akim. So Isa it is! I shall go retrieve her!" Damon struck a pose and pointed in the general direction of the infirmary before dashing down the stairs. Zeke chuckled and shook his head.

"He sure is energetic, same as always."

"I didn't know you had a boyfriend Zeke." He turned to Joey and frowned.

"I don't. Were not going out, he's just really affectionate." Seto raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Oh? From the way you were blushing I would have thought differently."

"…"

"That's what I thought."

"Here she is!" Everyone turned to Isa and Damon as he drug her into the cell.

"Ah Damon what did you need me for? I have some tests to run."

"Girl you need to take a break, we are having a contest on who is sexier. Seto or Zeke, and we can't judge cause it wouldn't be fair." Isa's eyes went wide and she blushed.

"I don't believe this is appropriate Damon."

"Oh come on, I've been without social contact for almost a month! I need some fun!"

"Well, it couldn't hurt I guess."

"I still haven't agreed to this yet."

"Hush Seto you have no choice." Seto glared at Damon who grinned back. Joey hesitantly put his hand on Seto's shoulder.

"It's just for fun Seto, please?" He flinched as Seto glared but his eyes softened as Joey looked at the floor.

"Fine." He grumbled as Damon squealed and jumped with joy.

"Ok then! I'm going to take Zeke to his room and get him into an…outfit. Meet you back here in half an hour!"

"Half an hour?"

"Well yea we need the perfect outfit, good luck you two!" Joey scratched his head and observed Seto in deep thought.

"I don't know why he needs half an hour if were going to be shirtless."

"Don't be a grump you heard what he said, he hasn't been out in a while and needs some excitement. Kind of like we really need to get out, and we are." He grabbed Seto's arm and smiled.

"This will be fun."

"For you."

"My happiness is your happiness right?" Seto blinked and looked at Joey, who had his puppy eyes going full effect. His left eye twitched and he sighed.

"Fine."

"Yay! You're gonna need some eye liner."

"…"

"You said you would."

"That doesn't mean I have to like it."

"Fine, grab your leather pants. I'm gonna find a belt." Seto sighed and grabbed his black leather pants while Joey rummaged through his drawers. He smiled as he held up a black studded belt.

"Here it is."

"Oh joy."

"Put the damn pants on." After the pants and belt had been put on Joey circled Seto.

"You don't need any shoes, come with me and I'll put some eye liner on." He hesitantly followed but sighed again and went inside.

"I should've done this a long time ago, you look great!" He looked at himself in the mirror and glared.

"I don't think you need anything else though. Come on let's sit for a second." Joey dragged him to the bed and sat next to him and leaned his head on Seto's shoulder.

"Thank you for lettin me do this, I know you don't like it but it's good to have some fun." Seto smiled a little and kissed Joey's forehead.

"Yes, it's also fun to give you a hard time though." Joey smacked his arm.

"Meanie."

"You love me though."

"I neither confirm nor deny it." Damon laughed as he and Zeke walked in on the affectionate argument.

"You guys are cute." He whistled.

"Looking good Seto, going with the Au naturel look I like it." Joey beamed with pride and grinned, as he looked Zeke over. His black hair had been ruffled and had that "I just got out of bed look." Damon had put him in gray faded jeans that were a light green at the knees and had small rips on the sides. Zeke had also gone shirtless of course and barefoot but sported a silver cross necklace as well as a stud on his left earlobe.

"I pierced his ear! Doesn't it look great?" Zeke blushed and brought a hand up to poke the earring but his hand was slapped away.

"You're not supposed to touch piercings they need to keep clean."

"Ok where did Isa go?"

"She went to the lab to wait, she didn't want to stay here while I dressed Seto."

"I'm gonna go get her then, be right back."

"You know its kind of weird seeing you like this Zeke, remember how serious and formal you were when we first met?"

"I wouldn't say I was formal, just serious. Kasakabi prefers us to act professional that way and the only one that really takes that seriously is Akim. That's part of the reason why Damon is kept away is cause he's such a free spirit. Kasakabi couldn't control him as well as he wanted to and was uncomfortable. He's definitely been here for a while, longer than me I think."

"How long have you been here Zeke?"

"I can't remember exactly but I know it's been around three years." He smiled as an over excited Damon dragged Isa up the stairs, almost making her trip in the process.

"Alright Isa, time to judge!" She looked at both men and blushed.

"Really Damon I don't think I could choose, their both handsome."

"Were not talking about handsome were talking about sexy!" Seto snorted and looked to the side.

"There is such thing as a tie you know." Joey cuddled into Seto's chest.

"I don't care what Isa says, I know my Seto is sexy." Seto blushed and Damon laughed and linked arms with Zeke.

"Yea but were not going to do that. We need to compare." His face took on an evil look and he smirked.

"I bet Zeke is bigger than Seto."

"We don't need to get into that Damon!" Zeke exclaimed with a horrified expression on his face.

"Well then what are we supposed to compare? Zeke has more muscle we know that for sure, no offense."

"None taken." Seto grumbled.

"You guys aren't interested in sharing I take it?" Seto grabbed Joey who was blushing heavily and growled at Damon.

"Cool your jets I was kidding!"

"I think I can deal with a tie, the fact that I got to put make-up on him was entertaining enough." Seto groaned but Joey kissed his cheek. Damon groaned.

"That's boring and anti-climatic!" Zeke patted his head and smiled.

"We'll do something when we come back from the trip."

"You're going too? Awww man I'm gonna be alone with Akim."

"You've been fine with that for the past month two more days won't kill you. When I get back I'll ask Kasakabi if I can take you outside for a bit." Damon's eyes beamed and he grinned.

"That would be nice, I miss fresh air." He tugged Zeke's arm.

"Walk me back to my room Zeke."

"Okay, have a good sleep you guys. I'll be waking you up at five with breakfast." As Zeke and Damon walked out of the cell Joey smiled at Seto.

"You should wear eyeliner more often."

"No."

_ _ _ _ _ _

"Good morning Sunshine's! Rise and shine your breakfast has arrived." Joey groaned and buried his face into Seto's chest.

"It's too early." Seto on the other hand was already awake and stretching, he sat up and Joey shivered at the loss of heat. He pulled the blanket over his head but yelped as his warm shield was ripped off the bed.

"Setooo." He whined and hugged himself.

"Get dressed." With the grace of a sloth Joey crawled out of bed and slowly got dressed. Zeke brought the trays in and set them down on the nearby desk.

"You can sleep in the van Joey, eat breakfast." At the mention of breakfast Joey's movement increased dramatically. Seto shook his head and frowned as he watched the blonde barely even chew his food.

"Don't eat all of it you glutton." Zeke glanced at his watch.

"I'll be back ten minutes before six to get you guys, it'll take a couple of minutes to get out of the tunnels." He picked up the two backpacks by the door and walked down the stairs. By the time Zeke returned Joey was dressed but rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"Alright time to head out guys, you ready?"

"No." He smiled as Seto smacked Joey on the head.

"What'd you do that for?"

"To make you wake up." Joey snorted.

"You couldn't fully wake me up right now even if ya held a god damn gun to my head."

"Alright guys let's go, don't want to keep everyone waiting." When they got to the garage two rugged jeeps and two large vans were on and waiting. In one of the jeeps was a group of guards and the others were in the vans, Joey, Seto and Zeke took the other jeep.

"There was a vehicle change but if you want to sleep you can lie down in back Joey." Joey nodded and climbed into the back seat and curled up. Seto took the passenger side and Zeke was the driver. It took ten minutes to get out of the tunnels, Seto always felt uneasy in such a narrow place. He almost smiled when they reached fresh air. Light was just rising in the horizon and he took a deep breath.

"It's always very nice in the early morning, not too hot and not too cold. The perfect temperature." Seto nodded.

"It's good to be out again."

"I'm sure if we weren't so far underground we would be able to go out more." Zeke picked up a radio and looked behind him.

"Alright guys we need to move quickly, I will remain in front and I want the two vans in the middle and the other jeep bringing up the rear. Let's move out!" Not even an hour into the trip they passed by a small watering hole with a couple of blue cranes rinsing off their wings. The light from the sunrise reflected off the water on their backs and wings making them shine.

"Beautiful isn't it? I think Africa is one of the best places on earth to view wildlife." Two hours later Joey deemed it an acceptable time to wake up, he yawned and stretched in the back.

"How much longer?"

"Around two hours."

"I have to go to the bathroom." Seto groaned.

"I told you to go before we left."

"But I didn't have to!" Seto shook his head and Zeke smiled and brought the radio up.

"Pull over for a second guys, if anyone else needs to piss you better do it now." After Joey finished his business they got back on the road. It started to warm up pretty quickly by eight and Joey was already starting to sweat.

"I thought he said we would be able to handle the weather better?"

"Kasakabi hasn't had many people live through the process, as you already know. It's different with each animal. Some people may have physical changes, like you guys and Damon. Others may not have any at all but still possess the strength, agility, and intellect of the animal. Every injection is unpredictable no matter how many times he does it."

"I see, have you been injected?"

"Thankfully not, but I know that if I stay one day I will be." An uncomfortable silence hung in the air.

"So, why are we going to this delta specifically? I mean all those animals are pretty much anywhere around here right?"

"Yes they are, but they are more abundant at the delta. It's basically a labyrinth of lagoons. It's a huge magnet for animals trapped in the parched lands with very lush plant life and lots of fish. Were approaching it now actually." He pointed in the distance and smiled. It was beautiful, and certainly a paradise for the animals suffering from the heat. The delta seemed to go on forever with a succession of lagoons, islands and islets of various sizes, open grasslands and flooded plains in a mosaic of land and water. Palms and towering trees abound, throwing their shade over crystal pools, forest glades and grassy knolls.   Crocodiles could be seen poking their heads out of the water and lounging on the bank, a herd of elephants with their babies stood on the opposite end enjoying the cool water and tossing mud onto themselves. Further down they spotted monkeys in the trees grooming, and even saw some lions lapping up the water. Joey was almost hanging out of the jeep staring at them in awe, like a kid at a candy shop without any limitations. Seto smiled internally, he too was enjoying the magnificent view. Zeke picked up the radio again.

"Alright everyone let's park under this tree here and get prepared." They all pulled into the cool shade under a magnificent tree, Joey sighed in relief and hopped out to stretch his legs. Seto shoved a water bottle in his face.

"Drink."

"Thanks." Zeke leaned against the tree's trunk with the guards in a circle around him.

"You will be staying here to guard the vehicles and equipment, it shouldn't take us too long to get the samples we need. We won't be eliminating the government here unless there are a lot of them, we will have talk to some towns people and ask them some questions about them. Make sure they aren't moving closer to our location. If anyone for any reason approaches do just what we planned alright?" The guards nodded and some sat down while others sat back in the vehicles with the doors open. Zeke grabbed a backpack and slung it over his shoulder.

"So what are we going to collect first?"

"I suppose we should get the least threatening one first, which would be the zebra."

"Why the hell does he want Zebra DNA? I thought he wanted predators."

"That's a good question, I think for now he just wants it for the record. Why don't you guys take your shoes off, were going to have to get wet for some of these." They took off their shoes and quietly made their way to a small herd of adolescent male zebras drinking and grazing.

"Alright I'm going to try and get close enough to get a dart in one if I miss or if it doesn't go down you will have to chase it and bring it down for me so I can tranquilize it then. After it's down and out put this cloth around its eyes just in case it's eyes are still open." They kept low, taking cover behind the reeds. Zeke brought the gun to eye level and aimed at the male in the middle eating, he took his time aiming and pulled the trigger. It was a direct hit. The other two males spooked and ran away, the one that was tranquilized lazily trying to run. It started weaving and then slowly lay down. Zeke brought a finger to his lips and they quietly approached. He lightly shook it and when it didn't move he sighed. Joey quickly covered the zebra's eyes while Zeke took a blood sample. Once done he put the tube in a container to flash freeze the sample, he applied an antibiotic to both injection sites and gave the zebra another injection to reverse the tranquilizer. They moved back quickly as the blindfold was removed and watched as it awoke in a daze but was quickly back on it's feet running towards the other males.

"That was so cool!" Joey could barely contain his excitement as he grinned, Zeke smiled.

"It is pretty fun isn't it? Wait until we do the lions, that will be kind of tricky."

"So what's next?"

"I think the crocodiles are closest to us, since size is not of importance we'll isolate a little one. We can't tranquilize one of these guys so we'll need to hold it down. You guys have seen those shows right? Where they wrangle them out and then sit on them?"

".."

"Okay then, when I get it out of the water or if it's already on the bank I'm going to sit on it's back. I'll want you guys to sit behind me and hold its back and front legs so I can duct tape it's mouth shut." Joey looked at Zeke with wide eyes.

"You want us, to _sit_ on a crocodile?"

"That's how it's done." Joey sighed.

"I swear I'm gonna die today at some point."

"You will sit behind me Joey and Seto will sit behind you, I want you guys to grab the legs where it joins the body so you don't get scratched. Seto you're going to have to be careful of the tail." They scoured the area for the smallest crocodile they could find. Thankfully when they found it, it was out of the water and basking on the bank. Zeke swiftly jumped on it's back and held it's jaws closed, although he hesitated, Joey was able to sit on it's back and grab it's front legs while Seto sat and grabbed it's back legs. Zeke then brought out the duct tape and scooted off and asked Joey to hold the mouth.

"It's ok, these guys have a lot of power when biting down but they don't have enough to open them when being held closed like this." Joey nervously held the jaws shut and Zeke quickly wrapped the duct tape around it. He took out a hunting knife and nicked off a piece of skin.

"This should be plenty." They all jumped off and lunged away at the same time after Zeke took off the duct tape. They collected samples from a cheetah and a spotted hyena without any trouble, now it was time to collect a sample from a lion.

"Why don't we take a break first?" He tossed them water bottles and took one out for himself. Only three hours had passed since they started.

"We'll probably be able to head home tonight if we get to ignore the suits."

"Zeke I'm hot, can I go in the water?"

"Only for a second, the water isn't clear so be careful of the crocodiles." Joey took off his shirt and pants before diving in, taking Zeke's advice he only stayed in for about two minutes before putting his pants and shirt back on.

"You should take a dip Seto it feels great."

"I don't like wearing wet clothes."

"So picky." Zeke gulped his water and leaned back against the trunk of the tree.

"Man I've said it once I'll say it again, it's great to be out." Seto nodded and Joey smiled.

"Well let's finish this up, last but not least we need the lion. We should target the male of the pride. I will need one of you with me, and the other in wolf form keeping the other lions away."

"Ah I think I'll stay with ya, Seto should guard us."

"That sounds good, let's get going then." They walked for ten minutes back in the direction of where they saw the lions earlier. Unfortunately they weren't at the bank anymore, but they weren't very far from it. In the distance Zeke could see the lot of them lounging in the shade under a tree.

"It's pretty secluded out here, I don't think we'll have too much trouble."

"That does nothing to re assure me." Joey grumbled and gulped as he spotted the male.

"If you get bit just remember you've been through worse, does that help?"

"No that's just depressing." Seto scowled.

"Can we get this over with? The longer we wait the more nervous he's going to get."

"Yea. Ok were going to slowly and carefully approach the pride, the male will see us and hopefully stalk over here by himself. We'll walk backwards to try and distance him from the others. I'll line up the shot and when he goes down we be quiet like we have been, sometimes if the adrenaline kicks in the tranquilizer will wear off." They started the slow walk towards the pride, pausing every now and then when the females looked at them. The male was standing and sniffing the air, trying to stare them down. As they continued approaching the male started walking towards them. Zeke held out his hand signaling them to stop. The lion continued approaching even after they stopped, when he felt he was close enough Zeke started walking backwards with Seto and Joey following. None of the females followed as they had a handful of cubs with them, they seemed pretty confident that the male would chase the intruders off. Zeke brought the gun to his eye and slowed down a bit to get better aim. Just as the lion had picked up its pace Zeke pulled the trigger, and missed.

"Shit." He lunged to the side and brought Joey down with him. Seto quickly transformed and got in front of Joey and Zeke, growling so loudly it almost sounded like a roar.

"Seto! Don't hurt it! Try to keep it there, I'm going to try again." Seto bared his fangs as the lion stepped forward. Seto was luckily big enough that Zeke could aim from under his legs from the ground. He loaded another needle in and pulled the trigger, this time hitting it. The lion jumped in surprise and snarled at them, it staggered back looking quite drunk. As it finally went down Zeke and Joey slowly walked up to it, while Seto put himself between them and the females that had started getting up. As Zeke drew blood Joey carefully picked up the lions paw.

"This thing is as big as my head."

"Amazing isn't it? He's pure muscle. Look at his claws." Joey's eyes widened as he fingered a claw, it looked to be around three inches long. As Zeke put the blood sample away he went to the lions head and carefully pulled back it's lips.

"Damn."

"Could crunch your arm off in a second." Joey gulped and nodded, but his attention quickly shifted to Seto when he started to growl. The lionesses were all standing with a few of them making their way towards them cautiously.

"That's our cue to leave." Zeke quickly gave him the injection and they quickly ran away and out of sight.

"That was awesome, that thing was freaking huge!"

"Haha you guys did very well. I'll have to ask Kasakabi to take you with me more often." As they walked back to the vehicles Joey grabbed Seto's hand and entwined his fingers with him as he leaned against his shoulder. Seto tightened his grip on the blonde's hand. The guards with the cars stood up and nodded at Zeke as they approached.

"Did you find anything out about the suits from the people?"

"Yes, fortunately there aren't many of them. Unfortunately they plan on moving closer to our location."

"Shit, did you hear when?"

"Unfortunately not." Zeke sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Right. We'd better head back then. If anyone has to piss now is the time because we won't be stopping again." On the ride back Seto sat in back with Joey on his lap. Joey yawned but kept his eyes open, Seto ran his hand through Joey's hair.

"Go to sleep pup, it'll be a while until we get back." Joey nodded and closed his eyes to try and sleep, but to no avail. He could practically smell the anxiety rolling off of Zeke. He sighed but tried to relax in Seto's arms anyway. Seto tightened his hold around Joey's waist and sighed. Zeke was going much faster than before.

'Those agents must be pretty close to the lab for Zeke to worry like this.' He leaned back and closed his eyes, mentally preparing himself for the disaster he felt coming on.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Oh wow, when I brought up that contest I got major writer's block. I know the DNA gathering was boring but I felt it was important to include it instead of just being like, "when they returned two days later." It didn't feel like something I could skip.

Oh god the Doomsday Device, how clichéd. Sorry I couldn't come up with anything better I really did try.

The black rain is referring to rain that came down after the atomic bomb was dropped, it contained large amounts of radioactive soot and dust and lasted for about an hour. I know all this stuff isn't very realistic like how this is going to work but if you don't like it then don't read it lol

The Good morning sunshine is something I had to live with. I went to a boarding school in Fresno California called AOS. We had to get up every morning at seven-fifteen to go hiking and that was what they would say when they tried to wake us up.

I know I made Zeke serious when they met but it's time for an attitude change =) Why are they in Africa? I have no idea, it was a really impulsive and random decision on my part. This took me longer to write than other chapters because I found the DVD box set of The Irresponsible Captain Tyler and have been watching a lot of that. I also found a book at Costco that I really like. Normally the only books I can tolerate are mange so this is a rare event. Not like I'm keeping you waiting though since all this will come out at once =) I am also going to try and make profile pics of all my created characters. Anyway I'll make sure isn't such a…filler chapter. No Flames please!


	7. Adrenaline Of The Mind

A/N: Okay here we go with the seventh chapter! I do own Damon, Zeke, Akim, Isa and Kasakabi but no one else! Enjoy =) I think this might be the last chapter, we shall see.

**The Way We Used To Be**

For some reason the ride back seemed longer than the ride over, even though they were driving faster. Joey had eventually fallen asleep in Seto's lap and was snuggled into his chest.

"How much longer Zeke?"

"Were almost there, there's some food in the pack near your feet if you're hungry." Seto thanked him and carefully picked up the pack. As soon as the noise of crinkling paper reached Joey's ears he quickly sat up, ears twitching back and forth and eyes wide open. He nearly cried in joy as a huge sandwich was shoved into his face.

"Here." Joey didn't even reply as he inhaled the food. Zeke whooped as the old tunnel came into view. He contacted a guard in the lab and they opened a door for all the vehicles. As Zeke sped through the downhills and turns of the tunnels Joey and Seto went sliding back and forth violently in the backseat.

"Slow down a little Zeke you're going to crash!" He laughed.

"Me? Crash? Never my friend, I have been through here so many times." Seto winced as the tires screeched. Finally the last vault opened and everyone was back in the building. Zeke didn't even turn the jeep off and jumped out and ran to the lab. Seto helped Joey out of the car and turned it off and grabbed the keys.

"I guess we go back to the cell now, I want to take a shower." Joey linked arms with Seto and grinned.

"We should take one together." Seto smirked.

"Yes we should." He squeezed Joey's buttock and the blonde yelped before slapping his hand away.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _

"What? And you're sure?" Zeke nodded with a grim look on his face.

"Yes doctor, the guards spoke with a villager and confirmed it."

"I suppose it was only a matter of time, but it's still sudden." Kasakabi paced back and forth.

"I want some guards on patrol. I know I'm probably going to regret this but I want Damon out." Zeke smiled faintly.

"He'll just be more hyper if you keep him locked up, he could help me in the kitchen maybe?" Kasakabi scratched his chin.

"I'll consider it. Go fetch Damon will you?"

"Of course doctor." He quickly returned with Damon grinning and latched onto his arm.

"Well you've got your wish Damon, you are going out on patrol with the guards. Agents were spotted and are making their way over here, we don't know when though. I know how talented you are in the stealth department, I would like you and a couple of guards to keep watch outside."

"Yes mein fuehrer." He mock saluted him with a serious look on his face before breaking out in a grin.

"When do I start?"

"Immediately. You and the guards will all have radios to communicate with the lab and each other. Inform the guards of anyone you see, if there are too many of them or are getting dangerously close contact me and I will have Seto and Joey sent out."

"Why don't you just have them stay out with us?"

"I don't quite trust them yet."

"Yet you trust me?" Kasakabi took a deep breath.

"I'll admit I am a little hesitant, but this is a dire situation that cannot be ignored."

"That bad huh? Well I won't disappoint you then."

"Very good, Zeke would you collect a handful of guards please?"

"Of course." Zeke left a little hesitantly as he saw Kasakabi and Damon staring at each other, but left nonetheless. When he did Kasakabi sighed and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could Damon held a hand up.

"I know what you're going to say, if I mess this up you will kill me right?" Kasakabi smiled.

"I've made an adjustment to that threat actually, so you're partially right." Damon blinked.

"Adjustment?"

"That's right, that certain threat has not worked since you arrived here. I do know how close you are to Zeke however." Damon's eyes widened before they narrowed and glared at the doctor.

"Don't you dare threaten him." His tail swished behind him and he clenched his fists.

"Now that is the reaction I was hoping for, as long as you do your job he will remain safe." Damon growled.

"To be perfectly honest I never thought I would have to make such a threat against you _son_. You're disobedience has furthered my suspicions that your loyalty does not lie with me." Damon looked to the side.

"First off, I'm not your real son."

"I took you in didn't I? Found you on the streets starving to death. Gave you food and shelter, I expect a little more respect from you."

"I'm not blood related, I'm not your son and you're not my father. Secondly, if I wasn't locked up the entire god damn time I would be more tolerable. Hell, even Seto and Joey get to walk around and they haven't even been here for two months."

"I assure you I do not trust them, at least not yet. They are getting no special treatment."

"Bullshit! They get to stay together yet I can't even see Zeke once a day? I call that special treatment doctor." Kasakabi glared and opened his mouth but instead shut it, closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"I am sorry you feel that way. I have already told Zeke that I will talk to Akim about letting Zeke in. As for you roaming around I am afraid I will have to refuse that request." Damon glared and crossed his arms. Zeke walked into the room with four guards and frowned. The tension was so thick it could be cut with a knife. Kasakabi turned to Zeke and grinned.

"Thank you Zeke, you may return to your room." Damon grabbed Zeke's sleeve and turned to Kasakabi.

"I want to go with him." Kasakabi's lips pursed and he frowned.

"You said yourself I could see him more often, I just want to hang out with him before I go." Kasakabi looked at his watch.

"You have twenty minutes." Damon grinned and pulled Zeke along.

"Damon?"

"Just keep walking, we need to talk." Noting the seriousness in his voice he nodded and wrapped an arm around Damon's shoulder.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _

His eyes narrowed as he watched them walk away.

"Doctor?" His eyes snapped over to the guards and he smiled.

"Has Zeke informed you of the situation?" They shook their heads.

"The government agents we have been waiting for are making their way over here, and we have no idea when. You are to take the old van and park somewhere away from the entrance. Damon will be patrolling the area and informing you of any agents whereabouts via the radio."

"How long do you want us to stay out there?"

"Two days at the most, if none of them appear you will return here and we will continue to monitor the area consistently."

"And if they do show?" Kasakabi grinned.

"You will contact me, I will send Seto and Joey up and they will dispose of them."

"Yes doctor, would you like us to head up now?"

"No, you must wait for Damon, keep a close eye on him and inform me of any trouble he may cause." They nodded and went to collect their packs and to get ready for the next couple of days.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

"What's wrong Damon?" Zeke asked in an alarmed tone as Damon brought his arms around his waist and leaned into his chest.

"Kasakabi…he…..he threatened to hurt you if I didn't behave." Zeke frowned and put a hand on Damon's head.

"I'm sure he was just saying that to keep you in line, don't worry." Damon hugged him tighter but shook his head.

"No, he means it. I've been here long enough to know what kind of a person he is. He _will_ hurt you to get a point across. I'm going to be gone for a couple of days. Please, _please_ promise me you'll be careful around him?" Zeke chuckled.

"I think I'm supposed to be telling you to be careful." Damon smacked his chest half-heartedly and tears welled up in his eyes.

"Please Zeke, promise me. So I can at least be at ease even if it's just a little bit before I leave."

"I promise Damon." He brought his arms around Damon's waist and hugged him tightly, and Damon returned it.

"Thank you." He whispered.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

When the time came for Damon to leave Zeke walked him and the guards to the surface, trying to ease the blonde's anxiety. When Zeke returned to the lab he made his way towards Joey and Seto's room. Remembering what he heard the last time he just walked up he blushed, and slowed his pace. Listening for any sounds. He sighed when he heard none and when he reached the top was relieved to see them sleeping on the bed.

'I don't want to wake them, but they should be informed of what they might have to do ahead of time.' He carefully opened the door and cringed as it squeaked a little. Seto's ears twitched and he opened his eyes and slowly sat up as Zeke approached them.

"I thought I might inform you of the situation." Joey yawned and sleepily rubbed his eyes and sat up.

"What situation?"

"The government situation. He sent Damon to the surface to scout the surrounding area with guards nearby. If agents are spotted Kasakabi is going to want you to go up and get rid of them." Joey frowned and Seto nodded grimly.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Damon grinned and sighed as the warmth of the sun hit him, he breathed in the fresh air. Feeling a rush of energy from being outside he did a cartwheel and laughed.

"It has been way too long."

"Be careful Damon! What if they're around here? You'll attract unwanted attention to our location!" Damon sniffed the air and looked into the distance.

"Relax, I can't smell anything. Only thing I can see is a lizard on that rock over there. I guess you should park the van somewhere and I should start looking around though."

"Very well, keep your radio with you."

"Yes father." The guard rolled his eyes and Damon snickered before running off. He ran for five minutes before he spotted a tree. He ran up to it, and with the skill of an expert acrobat scaled the tree to the top.

"Still can't see anything, wonder where the next tree is?" He squinted his eyes and looked around.

"Aha! That'll do nicely." In the distance he had spotted a very small watering hole with a tree on the side that provided some decent shade. It only took a couple of minutes to run to, but before he climbed the tree he jumped into the water to cool himself off and have a drink. He then jumped into the tree and relaxed on one of the branches.

"I'll just stay here a while, if these agents are on foot the shade and water should attract them." He closed his eyes and sighed.

"Damon? Come in Damon." He growled in annoyance and took the radio out of his pocket.

"What?"

"Have you spotted anything yet?"

"No nothing, I'm taking cover in a tree for a while about ten minutes away. Don't contact me again unless you've spotted them, if they had been here you would have just given away my location."

"Copy that."

"Idiots." He muttered.

"I finally leave that damn place and still can't manage to get any peace and quiet." He closed his eyes once again and allowed his tail to hang down. An hour later he opened his eyes as his ears picked up a light rumbling noise that was slowly getting closer. He quickly sat up and curled his tail around his waist. He stayed low and against the trunk behind the leaves and ducked as the vehicle stopped right under the tree.

'There you are.' The black truck turned off and the four doors opened simultaneously. He snickered as seven agents in traditional black suits stepped out. They immediately went for the water and nearly jumped into it. He waited patiently. It wasn't like he had anywhere to be right? They sat in the shade and ate food quickly.

"So, how close are we to this place? This heat is fucking killing me."

"We don't know the exact location, but we think it's close."

"You _think?_ How about we actually know where it is before we go out into the middle of nowhere in this damn heat!"

"We got a lead and were going to take it, we've been looking for this guy for years you know that."

"So for all we know we could be going in the opposite direction this place is?" The other agent sighed.

"No, we got a visual on some vehicles this morning. Villagers claimed they were just collecting samples to make sure there isn't any inbreeding going on with the animals. The villagers said they came from Namibia though, said they've seen some strange things around this area. Even gave us a damn map and pointed out some places."

"So were going by that?"

"Yes."

"…"

"It's the only lead we have." He tossed a radio to the man that was arguing with him.

"Call the other cars and tell them to head to our location, we need to fan out." Damon sighed softly and looked around.

'I didn't exactly pick the best place. I guess I'm stuck here until they leave.' It didn't take long for three more SUV's to join them. They all gathered under the tree together and circled the areas on their maps they were to check.

"So is everyone clear on their assigned area? Keep the radios on and keep your eyes open. Check everywhere and be careful." Damon tapped his fingers against the tree as he patiently waited for them to leave. He waited another five minutes just to make sure they were out of eyeshot. One of those cars had gone in the direction of the lab. He took the radio out and turned it on.

"Ok guys they showed at my location, there's four SUV's in the area. One of them is headed towards the lab and the rest spread out. I'm going to come back now, you guys tell Kasakabi to keep Joey and Seto at the ready."

"Copy that Damon, be safe." He rolled his eyes.

"Please, I'll be fine" He pocketed the radio and took a deep breath. There was no other shelter for another five minutes. No large rocks and no more trees.

'I'll be very vulnerable if they spot me. Wish I could remember this area a little better, I could at least lead them away from the lab if they see me.' He jumped down and looked around warily.

"Oh well." He ran for a couple of minutes and already the next tree was in sight, he sighed. His sigh was turned into a yelp as a bullet whizzed by his head.

"Shit." He grabbed the radio.

"I'm being shot at about five minutes away, tell Kasakabi to let Joey and Seto out now!"

"Seto and Joey have been released and are on their-" The radio exploded into tiny pieces as a bullet struck it.

"Damn! I'll just be a bigger target if I change." He rolled to the left as the SUV tried to run into him from the side. He nearly cried in relief as the figures of two giant wolves made their way towards him. He shouted in surprise as the car pulled up right next to him, the agent sticking out of the open door had a smirk on his face as he brought the gun to eye level. Joey raced ahead of Seto past the cars and turned around, he whined at Damon, who gave him a confused look before smiling. He ran up to Joey, grabbed a handful of his fur and swung his right leg over his back.

"Thanks for the lift." Joey grabbed the gun out of the agent's hands and crunched it in his mighty jaws before running ahead and to the side, getting himself and Damon out of harms way. Seto growled and ran full speed at the oncoming SUV. Just as he was about to make contact he turned his shoulder inward towards the car, totaling it and sending it rolling several times before it stopped on it's top. He panted and slowly walked up to the vehicle and peeked inside. All but one of the agents was dead. He was bleeding heavily though and would die soon. He snorted and trotted to where Joey was with Damon still on his back. Joey sniffed Seto seemingly checking for any injuries. Damon slid off of Joey's back.

"These guys have maps of the other areas where there are more agents, let's grab it and get it back to Kasakabi." Once the map was obtained the three of them made their way back to the lab, with Damon on Joey's back again. Damon handed the map to Kasakabi.

"The circled areas are where more agents are searching for the lab, one car each with about five people in them. I don't know if the other cars were contacted by the people that died so they may be on their way back here."

"You weren't as inconspicuous as you thought you would be I'm guessing?" Damon snorted.

"Yea well it's pretty barren out there, not many things to hide behind."

"True, where are the guards?"

"No idea, they shot my radio."

"I see, you may return to your room Damon." He turned to Joey and Seto.

"You two stay here, I want to contact the guards before I send you out again." He grabbed the radio and tried to contact the guards, but all that came back was static. He growled and slammed the radio onto the counter. He went into the infirmary and grabbed an injection.

"Joseph!" Joey hesitated for a second before walking up to Kasakabi, he yelped as the needle was pushed into the scruff of his neck roughly.

"Find them! Don't leave a single man standing!" They ran out the tunnels with unnatural speed, their paws kicking up sand as they went. Their eyes scanned the area for any sign of movement, their noses twitched, and they strained their ears for any sound they could pick up. Seto's ears twitched and he turned to the right, he growled, the metal of the SUV shone is the sun. The vehicle was quickly approaching them with another trailing right behind. The sound of the windows going down alerted them and they picked up speed. Inside the car the driver was sweating and staring at the huge beasts with wide eyes.

"What the hell are those?"

"Stop the car your going to crash into them!" He slammed on the brakes, causing the vehicle behind them to smash into the back. He closed his eyes at the impact, but when he opened them again the wolves were gone.

"Did you see where they went?" A crunching noise came from the drivers side and suddenly the door was gone, as well as the driver.

"What the fuck?" The crunching of bones and gurgling tore through the air.

"Grab the fucking guns!" The sight that greeted them when they exited the SUV was sickening. All the doors on the SUV that hit them had been torn off, blood coated the interior and pooled around the bodies of their fellow agents. They stood their, shocked and too scared to move. Seto turned around and growled at them, his muzzle and chest dripping with blood. In the background Joey flung a body into the air and shook it, as if it were a toy. One of the men brought a hand up to his mouth and leaned over and got violently ill.

"Watch out!" Too late, the last thing he saw were the open jaws quickly approaching before it was all over. In a heartbeat all but one of the men had been slaughtered. The last remaining man sat on the ground. Tears of fear trailed down his face, he started wide-eyed as Joey crouched down low with his fangs bared. Blood and saliva dripped off his chin as he growled and stalked. Before Joey could attack, however, the man brought his gun to his head and pulled the trigger. Joey growled in frustration and walked away with a snort. Seto frowned internally, he knew the injection was supposed to make Joey more aggressive but what he had done was sadistic. He stared at the bodies surrounding him and a shiver went down his spine. He did not like doing this. He needed to remind himself though that they had to do whatever it took to gain Kasakabi's trust. They had made that decision together and they would follow it through together. The sound of another vehicle approaching caused Joey to look up and growl. Still high on adrenaline, he didn't even see that it was the labs guards. He ran at the car, fully intending to kill them.

'Shit!' Seto ran after him, but just couldn't catch up. He watched in horror as the Jeep screeched as the braked were slammed on, Joey grabbed a front tire and tossed the Jeep up into the air. Before Joey could touch the Jeep when it came back down Seto slammed into him, sending him to the ground. He growled and bared his fangs at Seto as he stood over Joey and snapped at him. Fur flew and teeth gnashed but in the end Seto had grabbed hold of Joey's neck. He slowly let go and stepped away but kept himself between the jeep and Joey. Seto looked to the driver, who had a large cut on his forehead. He hesitantly changed back to human and walked to the driver, while keeping a close eye on Joey.

"Does the radio still work?" The driver nodded and handed Seto the radio.

"Kasakabi, this is Seto." For a couple of minutes all they could hear was static.

"Ah Kaiba, did something go wrong?" He laughed bitterly.

"We got rid of the pest problem, unfortunately Joey did not recognize the guards and damaged the Jeep."

"Someone's dead back here!" The driver sighed and looked into the back, he winced. The dead guards neck was hanging to the side at a funny angle with a bone jutting out of the skin.

"One guard is dead as well."

"Shit, guess the side effects aren't completely gone." Seto snorted and glanced at Joey. He had calmed down considerably.

"I'm sending a van out immediately." Seto handed the radio to the driver. A soft sigh made him look at Joey just in time to see him falling forward. He rushed forward and caught him right before he hit the ground. He held Joey in his arms and sighed. The blonde was sweating and breathing heavily with his eyes closed. Five minutes later a large van pulled up next to them, the driver brought out a large white sheet to wrap the body in. The ride back was quiet and tense, the guards looking at Joey with nervous glances. Kasakabi was waiting in the garage when they pulled in, an annoyed look on his face. He looked down at Joey and his eyes narrowed.

"Get one of the flatbeds and retrieve the Jeep." He shouted at the guards. He eyed Seto and held his arms out.

"Give him to me." Seto hesitated for a brief second before handing Joey over to Kasakabi. He would have made it worse for the blonde if he hadn't.

"Go back to the room Seto, rest up." He looked at Joey one more time before he turned around and left. Kasakabi walked to the infirmary.

"Isa!" Isa came running around the corner and looked at him in surprise.

"What happened to him?" He snorted.

"He's fine, just tired. You said you got rid of all the side effects of the injection did you not?" She nodded.

"We even tested it out doctor, three times in fact. Why what happened? " Kasakabi dropped Joey onto the bed harshly.

"Apparently he couldn't tell the difference between our guards and the enemy. He killed one of ours, injured the rest and totaled a jeep." His voice rose at the end and he glared down at Joey.

"We cannot afford these mistakes Isa!" She bowed.

"The injection causes his adrenaline levels to rise doctor, it is very possible that that took control of him and he got…caught up in the moment." A loud groan came from Joey and he slowly sat up holding his head. Kasakabi growled and grabbed Joey by the front of his shirt and threw him to the ground. Joey yelped as his head hit the wall and backed himself as far as he could into the wall as Kasakabi approached him.

"Do you have any memory of what you did Joseph?" Joey's ears went back and he shook his head. He yelled out as Kasakabi punched him in the stomach, making him double over.

"You killed a guard! Destroyed one of the jeeps!" Joey's eyes widened.

"You remember absolutely nothing?" He shook his head again. Kasakabi snorted and looked at Isa.

"Fix it!"

"It's not something I can just fix doctor. Sometimes people can't control themselves when their adrenaline level is too high." He yelled in frustration and glared at Joey who ducked his head and looked to the side.

"Very well then, go back to your room Joseph." He didn't need to be told twice. He quickly stood up and ran out of the room. In the cell Seto waited patiently on the bed for him to return. He stared at Joey with a look of worry as he saw the blonde's state. He slowly walked in with downcast eyes and a haunted look on his face. He slowly walked to the bed and sat in a crumpled heap on the floor next to Seto's legs. He sighed and laid his head against Seto's thigh.

"What's wrong?" Joey brought his hands up and stared at the little bit of blood on them before bringing a hand under his shirt and to his chest, tears forming in his eyes as he felt the dried blood all over him.

"He said I killed a guard." Seto frowned.

"We killed the agents we were supposed to kill, you got a little too excited and didn't recognize the jeep as our own when it approached."

"I could've killed all of them."

"You didn't." He tugged on Joey's shirt and the blonde lazily got onto his lap, his arms went around Joey's waist and he kissed his cheek.

"I'm gonna take a shower Seto."

"We both need one, come on."

* * *

Down in the main lab, Kasakabi, Akim, Zeke, and Isa sat around a table.

"I think the best course of action is clear. We need to activate the bombs as soon as possible. The government knows were here now and we need to do it before it's too late."

"But Doctor, the machine isn't fully prepared yet. Plus, they haven't discovered our _exact _location and even if they did it would be impossible for them to get in" Isa spoke softly and carefully. Zeke nodded.

"I agree, why risk a lethal backfire if we still have time?" Kasakabi slammed his hands on the table and stood up.

"We don't know what they have on them! They may be able to penetrate our security! I want this done and I want it done quickly!"

"Don't you still need subjects for your experiments though?"

"I don't have time for that! I will be able to gather more after the bombs. Inform the scientists of our plans." He left quickly and Zeke sighed.

"I'm going to visit Damon for a little bit."

"Alright."

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Seto and Joey emerged from the bathroom fully dressed and free of bloodstains. Joey still had a haunted look in his eyes and he seemed to move mechanically towards the bed, he lay down with a sigh and Seto sat next to him.

"When are we gonna leave Seto?"

"Oooh you guys are going to leave? Count us in." Joey sat up and smiled as Damon and Zeke walked in, Damon's tiger tail wrapped around Zeke's arm. Seto scowled.

"Don't speak so loudly! What if he were downstairs and heard you?" Damon rolled his eyes and sat on the desk.

"Calm down, we just walked by he's not around here." Zeke stepped closer to them.

"Did you guys hear anything about what's going on?"

"Zeke, they took a shower. I don't think they know anything." Zeke observer their wet hair and the steam still coming from the bathroom. He blushed and turned around. Damon giggled.

"I'll tell them." They looked at Damon curiously.

"Tell us what?"

"Kasakabi plans to set the bombs off earlier than he expected."

"Way earlier." Zeke added as he turned around, the blush gone from his face replaced by a worried look.

"The machine isn't even done yet, but he's too worried about the government finding us. So he wants to set them off either tomorrow or the next day." Damon jumped off the desk and perched on the bed.

"The scientists aren't too happy about that, it could backfire." Joey looked at Seto with worry, it didn't help that Seto had the same concerned look. Seto sighed.

"This changes things then. We'll probably be leaving earlier than we planned." Joey snorted.

"Planned my ass, we didn't even know when we were gonna leave in the first place." Seto smirked.

"True." Damon jumped in between them and wrapped an arm around each of their shoulders with a grin.

"Well when you do decide to break out, tell us okay? We want out to." Joey smiled and nodded and Seto was tempted to shrug out of Damon's arm, but he was making Joey happy. He could deal with it if meant taking Joey's mind off of things. Zeke checked his watch.

"Well, it's time for dinner. I'm going to go fix it up you guys just hang out okay?" Damon jumped off the bed and over to Zeke and looped his arms around his waist.

"I want to help you cook Zekie." Zeke blushed and coughed into his hand.

"Ah sure, let's go." Damon giggled and turned to wink at Seto and Joey. Seto rolled his eyes and Joey laughed lightly.

"It's kinda weird to see Zeke blush, ya know?"

"You mean because he looks big and tough?"

"Exactly." Seto wrapped his arms around Joey's waist and pulled him onto his lap. Joey sighed and leaned into his embrace.

"Take a nap pup, you're tired."

"I don't think I can sleep right now." Seto pushed Joey's head into his chest and put his chin on top of the blonde's head.

"Then rest your eyes at least." Joey nodded and closed his eyes, sighing deeply. A couple of minutes later Kasakabi walked up the stairs and frowned at them. Seto could smell the anger rolling off the man and he tightened his hold on Joey and fought to not glare at him. Joey's eyes blinked open and when he saw Kasakabi he shrank into Seto's lap, his ears going flat against his head.

"I trust Zeke has informed you of our plan?" Seto nodded.

"Very good, we will most likely be setting the bombs off tomorrow. I will have Zeke tell you ahead of time when it is decided." Seto said nothing and Joey avoided eye contact altogether. After Kasakabi left Joey relaxed and Seto kissed the back of his neck.

"We'll be gone soon, don't worry."

"Heh yeah, if the bomb doesn't backfire and kill us first. I'm scared Seto." Seto turned Joey's face towards his with his hand and leaned his forehead against his.

"We will be fine, I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep."

"I promise, Joey." He stared into Seto's eyes and tears gathered in his, Seto brought a hand up and wiped them away and Joey smiled. Seto gently pulled him down with him to lie on the bed.

"We'll take a nap together okay?" Joey nodded and cuddled closer into Seto's chest. It didn't take too long for the blonde to fall asleep and Seto closed his eyes, never really falling asleep but guarding Joey. It was a short nap though as about half an hour later Zeke and Damon brought four trays to their cell, they ate dinner together and joked around for a while. When they were done everyone was hesitant to say goodnight, they were nervous and unsure about what tomorrow would bring. Joey found it very difficult to fall asleep and spent two hours in Seto's arms just lying there. He had come close to falling asleep two times, but he kept waking up from small noises he heard in the lab. He sighed and sat up.

"I'm too nervous to sleep." Seto sat up and held his face in his hands, he was exhausted but he was not only nervous as well, but felt like he had to stay awake and look after the distressed blonde.

"We could ask Isa if she has some sleeping pills."

"I don't wanna take any pills."

"Try sleeping again, I won't let anything happen remember?"

"Yea." He slowly lay back down and Seto wrapped his arms around him. It took a little while, but Joey was finally able to fall asleep. Even Seto managed to get a few hours of shuteye. Early in the morning around seven Zeke showed up with breakfast. Joey groaned and rolled over as Seto tried to shake him awake.

"Rough night?"

"He couldn't sleep very well."

"I see. I'm here earlier than normal because Kasakabi has decided to set off the bombs in a few hours, thought you would like to know ahead of time."

"Yes, thank you." Zeke nodded.

"Damon wants to stop by later if that's alright with you."

"That's fine, get up pup there's food." He frowned, as even the mention of food didn't get Joey to open his eyes.

"I can always reheat his food later if he doesn't eat it." Seto grunted and lifted the covers off and sat on the edge of the bed. Joey whined at the loss of heat and tugged on the back of Seto's pants. Seto sighed with a hint of irritation and pointed to a sweatshirt on the dresser.

"Could you hand me that sweatshirt?" Zeke grabbed it and tossed it to Seto, who shoved it in Joey's face.

"Put it on, you need to eat." Joey rolled over with his back facing Seto and shook his head.

"Nuh-uh." Seto's eye twitched. He reached down and lightly tugged on Joey's ear. When he got no response he tugged much harder, earning a yelp from Joey who brought a hand up to his ear and sat up.

"Okay okay I'm up." He yawned and quickly put the sweatshirt on. Seto shook his head and put his tray on his lap, Zeke chuckled and walked out and down the stairs. Seto hand Joey his food.

"Eat."

"I'm not that hungry."

"I don't care, you need to eat something." Joey sighed and grumbled, slowly pushing his food around and taking small bites.

"Did you hear what Zeke said?" He nodded.

"He also said Damon is going to come by later." He nodded again and Seto sighed.

"Joey."

"I'm fine. I'm just…really tired."

"You're worried."

"Yea, aren't you?" Seto smirked and shook his head.

"No, I'm very confident that we'll be fine. We will leave this place, and we will take Zeke and Damon with us." Joey put his fork down.

"What about Isa?"

"I don't know if she wants to leave."

"We should ask. I mean the only reason she's staying is because he's threatened her family. After this though, they might not even be alive. So she wouldn't have any reason to stay."

"Yes, but there might be another reason." Joey looked at the floor.

"Will you at least ask?"

"When I can, yes. Now eat." Joey hesitated but picked up his fork again and ate slowly. Seto frowned as Joey pushed the tray away with half the food still on it. He didn't bring it up though as Damon waltzed in with a bright smile on his face.

"What are you so happy about?" Joey gazed at him suspiciously. Damon giggled.

"I let Zeke be on top last night." Joey's face turned red and Seto shook his head.

"Probably the best decision I've ever made." Joey buried his hands in his face.

"No details please." Damon, ignoring Joey's embarrassment, walked up to him and sat on his lap. Although he knew Damon was just teasing Joey, Seto couldn't help the low growl that came from his throat.

"So, does Seto ever let you be on top?" Poor Joey looked like he was about to die of embarrassment. Blushing from head to foot and eyes as large as dinner plates. Seto glared at Damon.

"That's hardly any of your business."

"You know I never thought to let him try because Zeke is so damn shy, but it turns out the shy ones are great on top because they have this pent up sexual beast or something." If it was even possible, Joey's blush got brighter and he ducked his head. Damon blinked but smirked.

"No need to be so shy. I mean you guys have had sex I assume?" Joey nodded mutely.

"Well then there you go! Besides, I need someone to share stories with." Joey's head snapped up.

"I don't think-"

"Boy I'm bushed, think I'm going to go see Zeke now. See you later." He leapt off of Joey's lap and jogged down the stairs, leaving Joey with his mouth open. Seto was annoyed that Damon had teased him like that, but he had to admit his pup was damn cute when he blushed.

"That wasn't awkward at all." Joey's sarcasm made him snicker.

"What are you laughing at?"

"You."

Why!"

"Because you're cute when you blush." That of course just made Joey's blush deepen. He grumbled and lay back down on the bed with his back to Seto. The brunette smirked and walked towards the bed, encasing Joey in his arms. Joey stiffened and turned his head to glare at him but yelped as Seto kissed him deeply. He moaned as Seto turned him onto his back and straddled him.

"You know I'm kind of glad Damon told us that." Joey looked at him in surprise.

"Why?" Seto leaned down and lightly nipped Joey's ear, causing said blonde to shiver.

"Because now I'm curious. I think we should give it a try, don't you?" Joey was too embarrassed for words. He blushed and turned his head to the side. Seto latched onto his neck, grazing his teeth on Joey's neck and giving him love bites.

"I'll get us started, then you can take over." Seto whispered and took off both his and Joey's shirts. He softly kissed Joey on the forehead, his nose, then his lips. He slowly kissed down Joey's well-developed chest and ran his hand over his hardening nipple. Joey purred and let out a small gasp as Seto pinched and gave him a few playful twists. Seto turned his attention to the other nipple, which got the same treatment. Joey was well aware of the tightening around his pants and shifted his hips.

"Seto." He moaned. Seto entwined his legs with Joey's and put his hands on the blonde's back, surprising him when he flipped them over so Joey was on top. He leaned up and kissed Joey's stomach.

"Your turn pup."

Joey looked at him with a mix of nervousness and embarrassment. He took a shaky deep breath and slowly leaned down and captured Seto's lips with his. They deeply kissed and moaned as they tasted each other. Joey hesitantly pulled away and brought his lips to Seto's chest. He licked a nipple before closing his mouth around it and sucking lightly. Seto sighed in content and buried his hands in the sea of blonde hair. He bucked his hips and moaned when Joey trailed his tongue down the brunette's chest, stopping at the waist of his jeans. Both reached to undo each other's belts, throwing them in the corner. They slid their pants off and threw them away as well. Joey blushed and stared down at Seto's boxers, the bulge in them begging to be rid of its confinement. He grazed his hands over the bulge and smiled as Seto shivered.

Joey brought his hands to the edges of Seto's boxers and slowly slid them down. He looked at Seto and the brunette gave him an encouraging smile. Joey slowly brought a hand down to Seto's arousal and shyly wrapped his hand around it. Seto groaned and grasped the sheets.

"Puppy." Joey blushed at the response, he was definitely used to being on the receiving end. While he was very shy he was also curious. He slowly pumped his hand up and down Seto's length, causing Seto to tighten his grasp on the sheets. He could feel his release coming in the pit of his stomach. Joey took his hand away though and Seto pouted, but then he gasped and bucked his hips as Joey took his length into his mouth.

"Oh god puppy!" Joey was pleased to see the dazed look on his lover's features, his head thrown back and eyes closed as he released short gasps and moans. Joey moaned and the vibrations sent along Seto's arousal drove the teen crazy, pressing him even closer to his release. Joey bobbed his head up an down at a leisurely pace, Seto twisted the cover in his hands and his hips arched up and he grunted as he released. Joey knew what to do next, but there was a little problem.

'I need lube.' He remembered the white substance in his mouth and got an idea. He slid his boxers off with a slight blush, spit out the substance onto his hand and rubbed it on himself, making a lubricant. He smiled down at Seto shyly and the brunette smirked.

"I think you need to be in control more often pup." He spoke between pants, causing the blonde's face to flush even brighter. Seto's hand rested on his hip.

"Go slowly at first ok?" Joey nodded and laughed nervously.

"Right." Seto smiled and stroked his hip comfortingly.

"You'll do fine." Joey slowly brought the tip of his length to Seto's entrance and looked at him one more time before slowly pushing in all the way. Seto winced and Joey moaned loudly, the heat that surrounded him was almost unbelievable and he had to try and hold back from releasing right then. It just felt so damn good. He looked down at Seto.

"You ok?" Seto nodded.

"Yea, just give me a second." Seto bucked his hips and they both gasped as the pleasure. Taking it as a sign that he could move, Joey slowly pulled out then back in.

"Oh god." Joey whimpered as he sped up a bit, Seto moaned again and wrapped his legs around Joey's waist. Joey leaned down and laid his head on Seto's shoulder, pumping in and out faster and faster. Seto groaned and buried his hands in Joey's hair as Joey brought a hand down and grabbed Seto's length, rubbing up and down rapidly. The knot in Joey's stomach came back and he bit his lip.

"S..Seto! Ah! I..can't…keep it in..much longer Ah!" Seto grunted as he released onto their abdomens and Joey screamed Seto's name as he exploded inside the brunette. Joey fell against Seto's chest and they both lay there panting. Seto laughed lightly and patted Joey's back.

"Well done pup, let's go take a shower." Joey wasn't moving, however. Seto frowned and shook Joey's shoulder.

"Joey?"

"Hmm?" He chuckled.

"Don't go to sleep, we need to get cleaned up." Joey whined but gradually pulled out of Seto and sat on the bed looking quite dazed. Seto stood up and gently pulled Joey up by the arm, having to nearly drag him to the shower.

Meanwhile downstairs in Zeke's room, Damon was grinning like an idiot and snickering. Zeke came out from the bathroom with a curious look on his face.

"What's so funny?" Damon giggled and looked at the ceiling.

"Oh, nothing." Zeke raised an eyebrow but shrugged, it was none of his business.

* * *

Ok so this isn't the last chapter, I felt like that was an okay place to stop at. The next chapter will be the last, I just need to gather my thoughts. I hope the action scenes and the lemon were alright. I'm not very good at lemons so yea. I must say I am becoming very fond of Damon =) Am working on profile pics for my OC's that will go on Deviant art. Hopefully the next chapter will be out soon, please review! No Flames Please!


	8. Ending In The Dark

Alright then this will be the last chapter I assure you, I cannot drag this on any longer. At least I don't think I can, we shall see.

**The Way We Used To Be**

They had hoped that the hot shower would relax them, that their earlier activities would make them forget the current situation. It had, just not for very long. Seto and Joey emerged from the bathroom fully clothed and clean. They could hear the angered shouts as Kasakabi argued with the scientists from the basement. Joey's ears went back and he sighed. They didn't know when they were supposed to go down to the basement, so they sat in the cell. An hour into the wait Joey was nervously pacing around the small space.

A lot of the facilities lights had been turned off, making Joey even more nervous. Meanwhile Seto sat on the bed leaning against the wall. He hadn't been getting sufficient rest since yesterday, the gruesome images of Joey tearing apart the men still fresh in his mind. Seto's ears twitched and Joey stopped pacing and stared at the door, one of his ears standing up while the other lay against his head. As Kasakabi came to the cell door Joey's ears went back and he moved closer to Seto. The giddy look on Kasakabi's face was quite unsettling, it looked almost unnatural on the man's face.

"Today is a very exciting day my pets, a most spectacular show will occur." The excitement in his voice wasn't contained, he reminded Joey of a schoolgirl getting expensive shoes. Kasakabi signaled for them to follow, and they began the slow walk to the basement. As they descended the stairs Joey grasped Seto's hand in his with a firm grip. Seto could feel the small tremors and gently squeezed his hand reassuringly.

The only word that could describe the scene in the basement was chaos. Aggravated and nervous scientists were scurrying everywhere and checking the equipment. Akim stood alert, watching and making sure everything went smoothly. Damon and Zeke stood close to each other near the entrance to the basement. Joey made his way over to them but Seto stood and stared. Soon, everything he knew would be gone.

Damon smiled widely and let go of Zeke's hand, throwing an arm over Joey's shoulder.

"So did you have a good morning?" An all-knowing smirk was present on Damon's face, making Joey blush.

"How is that any of your business?" Joey jumped slightly as Seto seemed to suddenly appear right behind him, with the usual scowl on his face. He growled as Damon's tail wrapped around Joey's thigh, Damon unwrapped it and stepped away from Joey with a grin.

"Just curious is all." Seto snorted.

"A little too curious." Zeke laughed and lightly caught Damon's wiggling tail.

"Well he is a kind of cat, so he's bound to be curious don't you think?" Joey giggled and Seto rolled his eyes. Loud clapping made them all turn around and look at Kasakabi. A scientist stood next to him with a handful of papers.

"Alright everyone we are about to begin!" He looked at them and signaled for the four of them to approach him.

"We need to keep our distance from the machine while it is going off." He waved another scientist over.

"Are the other labs prepared as well?"

"Yes sir, we are all awaiting your signal."

"Very good. In exactly five minutes the bombs will be launched, keep your fingers crossed!" To the right of them a digital clock sat on a desk. The count down had begun. Joey grabbed Seto's hand and leaned against his side, Seto wrapped his arms around the blonde's shoulders and brought him against his chest. Zeke had let go of Damon's tail and draped an arm around his shoulders. The two couples seemed to be reacting opposite of each other. Seto and Joey looking nervous, while Damon and Zeke appeared to be quite calm. Three minutes and nineteen seconds remained on the clock. A majority of the scientists moved to the back of the room behind Kasakabi, while a few remained at the large computer waiting to set off the bombs. Kasakabi stared at the large device that sat in the middle of the room with a look of pride. It made Seto nauseous. Two minutes and forty seconds left. A few tears fell down Joey's face, Damon looked at Joey with concern and lightly tugged on Zeke's shirt, making their way over to Seto and Joey. Damon lightly leaned against Joey's side so he could feel that he was there. Joey turned to look at Damon and smiled lightly, Damon smiled back and nodded. One minute and thirty seconds left.

"Seto?"

"Hmm?"

"Are we going to be ok?" He nodded and kissed the top of Joey's head.

"Yes, we'll be fine. I promise." The last minute of the countdown was torturously suspenseful. Joey stared at the clock until ten seconds remained. He turned into Seto's chest and hid his face in the brunette's shirt. A loud humming noise sounded in the air, followed by a loud bang. The noise made Joey yelp and jump in surprise and Seto tightened his arms around him. For a few seconds it was deathly quiet, until a loud explosion went off. It sounded like a windstorm outside, and for a few seconds the building shook violently. A couple of Scientists fell to the ground and Joey and Seto were barely managing to stay on their feet. Then just like that, everything was silent again. The shaking ceased and everyone that had fallen were now back on their feet. Kasakabi remained where he stood with a huge smirk on his face.

"Spectacular! By now the gamma and heat blast have gone, as well as the pressure wave. We may or may not have the black rain in this area, but the soot will block the sun. Let's hope you two can survive the drop in temperature when that time comes." Seto glared at Kasakabi as Joey's eyes widened and he gripped Seto's shirt tighter. Kasakabi smiled at Seto and looked up at the ceiling.

"You four come with me upstairs." He pointed at Seto, Joey, Damon and Zeke. Then he gestured at the scientists.

"You all stay down here, keep an eye on the computer and machine. If everything looks alright after an hour or so I only want a couple of you back upstairs, is that clear?" A chorus of yes sir's sounded and Kasakabi nodded in approval. He looked at the group of teens.

"Let's go then." Damon and Zeke immediately followed Kasakabi up the stairs, but Seto stayed behind with Joey for a second to try and snap him out of his shock.

"Pup, come on we have to go upstairs." Damon ran back down the stairs and looked at them.

"You guys coming?" Seto nodded and carefully picked Joey up and followed Damon up the stairs. Kasakabi looked at Joey.

"You may take Joseph back to your room Kaiba, you two may as well. We may not move out until late tonight or tomorrow. The injections given to you have made you very resilient, I doubt you will suffer from any radiation poisoning." Seto sent a glare Kasakabi's way that clearly said, "you're not helping." He either shrugged it off or just didn't notice.

"I will tell you when you will be moving out. So please rest until then. I look forward to lunch Zeke." As Kasakabi walked away Damon gripped Zeke's hand tighter. Zeke squeezed back before looking over at Joey.

"He Ok?" Seto looked down at Joey and frowned.

"He just needs some quiet, I'm going to take him back to the room now."

"Right, I'll bring lunch up when it's done." Seto nodded and started walking towards the stairs. At some point on the way up Joey had fallen asleep.

'Good, he needs the rest.' Seto gently laid him on the bed and pulled the covers over him. The event hadn't been as, well, eventful as he thought it would be. That was probably a good thing though. He tenderly brushed back a lock of hair from Joey's eyes. Their worries were far from over though. Yes, they were just beginning. As happy as he was that the bomb did not backfire and harm anyone in the underground lab, they still would have the threat of the radiation outside. He wanted to question Kasakabi on how the injections would guard them against the radiation, but he had no room for error. They were closer to being free, and while it would of course take a while, they could wait. Joey turned into Seto's hand and smiled lightly. Seto's ears twitched and he looked at the cell door, he calmed as Isa walked in. She looked at Joey with concern.

"Damon wanted me to check on him, he said he didn't look so good."

"He's fine, just scared." Isa nodded.

"Understandable." An awkward silence filled the air and Seto sighed.

"Joey wanted me to ask you something." She tilted her head and looked at him curiously.

"Oh? About what?" Seto beckoned her over and she complied.

"He wants to know if you wanted to come with us when we leave." Isa's eyes widened.

"Did you not hear a single word I said the day you arrived here?"

"Did you honestly think we wouldn't try eventually?" Isa stared at him in shock and disbelief.

"I was kind of hoping you wouldn't." Seto snorted and combed through Joey's hair with his free hand.

"Just answer the question. If you want to stay here that's fine, it's none of my business, Joey's the one that wants to know." Isa frowned and shook her head.

"I'm afraid I would have to decline. Even if we could get away, Kasakabi would come after us."

"He couldn't come after us if he was dead."

"If he…died, I would leave. I don't think I would last long though with the radiation, my place is here." Seto grunted and Isa walked out of the cell. He sat on the bed for what felt like hours, letting Joey get his rest. He soon found that he had been sitting for hours when Zeke and Damon walked in with lunch. Zeke looked at Joey and Damon was oddly cheerful.

'I don't want to know.' He cringed as all the possible reasons for his happiness sprung into mind. He blinked as Damon set the tray in front of him.

"It's a special lunch today."

"No it's not."

"…" Zeke faltered as Damon glared at him, a bead of sweat falling down his face.

"Ah I mean yes it is, very special. Hasn't been made for years actually." He laughed nervously and set Joey's tray down. Seto sighed.

"You don't have to try to act happy you know."

"Well excuse me for trying to lighten the mood." Damon huffed and put his hands on his hips. Damon smiled for a second then he frowned, his face suddenly serious. Zeke held his hand and smiled sadly.

"What's wrong with you two?" They turned to Seto.

"Zeke heard what Isa said when she was up here, it kind of got us thinking. If the injections have made us immune to the radiation, then Zeke would need one." That's right, he had completely forgotten. Zeke was never given an injection. If he went outside with them, he wouldn't make it. Even after the radiated soot stopped falling, the radiation would continue to be around for a long time.

'So, what injection do you want then?" Zeke sighed.

"You know, it's stressful enough just to think about it, let's not talk about what kind I want." Damon giggled and looped and hooked an arm onto Zekes.

"I think you should be a tiger, tails are good for all sorts of things you know." He winked and Zeke blushed. Seto cleared his throat and Damon grinned.

"So how's Joey doing? Better I hope." Seto grunted.

"Considering he's been asleep since you last saw him I think he's better. Usually when he's too nervous he won't sleep, even if I am around. Or maybe he was just too exhausted."

"Either way, you should wake him up. Some food in his stomach might make him feel better. We'll be by later to check on you guys again."

"We don't need to be monitored."

"I never said you did, besides we like visiting you guys. So until later." Zeke waved and Damon grinned as they walked out. Seto's ears twitched as Joey sniffed the air with his eyes still closed. He slowly opened his eyes and smiled at the food. He stretched and kissed Seto's hand.

"Hey."

"Do you feel any better?"

"A little." Seto shoved a tray onto Joey's lap.

"Eat." He didn't need to be told twice, Joey quickly dug in and when he was finished he licked the plate clean. Seto raised a brow but turned his attention to his own food. He barely tasted it though, his concern for Joey and the future weighed heavily on his mind. He had confidence that the radiation would not affect them. The man had after all thought it through. Of course Kasakabi's sanity was questionable. He blinked as a finger jabbed into his side.

"You alright in there?" Joey tilted his head to the side and one of his ears went back slightly.

"Fine, just thinking." He grabbed one of Joey's ears and tugged on it. Joey yelped and frowned.

"Why do ya always hafta do that?" Seto smirked and ruffled the blonde's hair.

"It amuses me."

"Yea I bet it does ya jerk." Joey huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. He smiled as Seto encased him in his arms and leaned over until they were both lying on the bed.

"Do you want to sleep a little more?" Joey turned to face Seto and snuggled into his chest.

"Can we just lie here for a while?"

"Of course we can pup." Joey sighed and closed his eyes, relaxing in the arms of his protective boyfriend. Joey had, of course, fallen asleep. So when Damon and Zeke stopped by an hour later, he glared at them and brought a finger to his lips. They seemed to get the message and left without making a sound. Night came way too soon for everyone's tastes, you could practically smell the fear and anticipation in the air. Downstairs in the lab, Zeke, Damon and Kasakabi conversed. As they got deeper into the conversation Kasakabi clasped his hands together and grinned.

"Really? I have to admit I am quite surprised Zeke, as I recall you were very opposed to the idea before."

"Yea well, I was just thinking how I'd like to go out at some point. If the injection repels the radiation like you say it does then I'd be willing to take a chance."

"You do realize you would be doing field work?" Zeke cringed.

"Yes, I am prepared for that." The grin on Kasakabi's face widened, making Damon shiver. He tightened his grip on Zeke's hand and calmed down after he received a squeeze back.

"Have you thought about what DNA you would like Zeke?" Zeke blushed and looked at the floor.

"I was thinking tiger." Damon giggled and Zeke's blush darkened, Kasakabi smirked and shook his head.

"Lucky for you we have some left, shall we get started right away?" Zeke nodded and they followed Kasakabi further into the lab.

The night was oddly silent. Joey had expected people to be awake and nervous given the circumstances. Seto had fallen asleep next to him and didn't so much as twitch as he slowly sat up and looked around. A faint light downstairs caught his attention, he tried to swing his legs off the bed but Seto tightened his hold around his waist. He gently brushed a hand through Seto's brunette locks and smiled fondly at him. Although he wasn't very tired anymore, he knew Seto was. He was well aware of the fact that Seto stayed awake more often than not to watch over and protect him. He lay back down and scooted closer to Seto, gently brushing his lips against the brunette's cheek and closed his eyes.

Before anyone knew it the sun was beginning to rise. Seto's eyes snapped open and quickly searched the room, they landed on Joey's sleeping form and he relaxed some. He was never relaxed until he was sure Joey was unharmed. The blonde's eyes lazily opened, and the boy smiled and kissed the tip of Seto's nose.

"Mornin'" As if suddenly remembering yesterday's events, Joey wilted and looked towards the path to the basement.

"I suppose we might be headin' out today." He blinked as Seto sat up quickly.

"Seto?"

"We'll be fine pup, we will get out of here. Damon and Zeke will come with us but Isa, she wishes to remain here."

"Oh…" There was no time for an explanation for Kasakabi walked up the steps and into the cell. He smiled at the two.

"You will be leaving shortly, so get dressed and meet me in the lab." Joey sighed and walked over to the drawer after Kasakabi walked down the stairs. He put on some tattered blue jeans with a black belt, the jeans were a size larger than he needed but he liked the bagginess. He removed the shirt he had on and slipped on a black one with an animated pit-bull on the left over his heart. Seto looked at him with question in his eyes as he put a collar with his ID tags on. Joey caught his glance and blushed.

"I like it ok?" Seto smirked and tousled his hair as he walked to his side of the dresser. Seto discarded his pants and put on clean black leather pants, he slipped a black dress shirt on and then put on a dark blue trench coat. He turned to Joey and smiled before grabbing his hand.

"Ready?" The blonde sighed.

"No, but what choice do we have?"

"Hmm none, come on." When they got to the lab Kasakabi was sitting in a chair in front of a table with three scientists talking to him. He spotted the two and smiled brightly.

"Ah wonderful! Come over here you two. You have a long journey ahead of you." Joey sighed deeply and followed behind Seto. A world map was laid out in front of Kasakabi with some areas circled with bright red ink.

"We have discussed which areas of the world are most likely to have more survivors, come look." Seto stepped closer but Joey remained behind his back, not really wanting to go near the man.

"We think that Japan is more likely to have survivors." Seto frowned.

"We have to go all the way back to Japan? Can't we look a little more closer to this area?"

"Afraid not, if we want to get specimens before radiation gets to them we have no time to lose. The tribes here have flimsy huts and are more than likely to be dead. You must travel to Japan."

"By foot?" Joey's voice was small but and timid but the look he was giving Kasakabi was unmistakable. Kasakabi sighed.

"Yes by foot. Your injections have made the cold weather a lot more bearable, I will have Zeke pack food that does not expire for you in packs."

"I doubt a backpack will carry as much food as we will need for this entire trip."

"Yea, and how are we supposed to bring any people back with this far of a walk?"

"When you have found a handful of survivors contact me on the radio, you will have to meet a vehicle quite some ways away. Then you will search for more."

"You have the fuel for such a trip?"

"Trust me, I have waited so long for this. I am fully prepared. You'd better get ready, you have quite a ways to run." Joey crossed his arms and huffed like an upset child, but Seto decided arguing would get them nowhere. He firmly grasped Joey's wrist and lightly tugged him along with him back to their cell.

"He seriously expects us to run thousands of miles? Why can't he get his guards to pick people up? If he's so concerned with the "subjects" health and all they should jus drive there! I mean who the hell does he think owww!" The blonde reached up to rub his left ear as he glared at Seto.

"What the hell was that for?"

"You were blabbering."

"Can ya blame me?" Seto brushed a hand through his hair and sighed.

"I can understand why you are, it is quite ridiculous. We obviously don't have a choice however." Just then Zeke and Damon walked in with four trays of food. Damon looked overly excited, and Zeke looked just as embarrassed as always. Joey squinted at Zeke and slowly inched towards him. As he got closer Damon giggled and tightened his hold on Zeke's arm.

"Holy shit! When did this happen?" Seto raised an eyebrow at Joey. Was the blonde daft? Nothing looked differ-oh. His eyes slightly widened as he took in the _two_ entwined tiger tails. While Damon's was white and black, Zeke's was orange and black. His eyes had turned light brown and his pupils were now slits.

"I thought ya didn't want an injection though Zeke."

"He changed his mind." Damon stated smugly. Zeke rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"you guys are kind of on a time limit, maybe you should eat quickly?" Joey deflated.

"Did ya really have to bring that up again? I was starting to forget about it."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Seto snorted and whacked the back of Joey's head.

"Don't apologize to him, he needs to get over it. Will either of you be joining us on this journey of ours?"

"Afraid not, Kasakabi wants me to train Zeke for a while. So you two will be going by yourselves." Joey groaned but walked over to the trays on the table and picked one up and set it in his lap after he sat down.

"Yea well, I guess it's a good thing you won't be with us. We could, ya know, die with the radiation and all so you're better off here." Seto rolled his eyes.

"Please, we'll be fine. Kasakabi was just trying to scare you. He himself said that he had been preparing this for a long time, I'm sure he would have already tested something like that."

"And what if he didn't? What if it affects us?" Seto closed his eyes.

"Then we die."

"Setooooo!"

"Hurry up and eat so we can get this over with, stalling won't do any good." Joey huffed and ate the food angrily.

"Ah..." Zeke looked at Damon who just shrugged.

"Well, we'll just leave you two alone to get ready. Just leave the trays on the table and I'll pick them up later." Damon skipped over to Joey and threw his arms around his neck, giving him a kiss on the cheek much to Joey's chagrin. Seto growled lightly and huffed as Damon did the same to him, minus the kiss.

"You two be safe alright." Damon waved cheerfully as he and Zeke walked hand in hand out of the cell and down the stairs. Seto glanced at Joey and watched the blonde put the tray back on the desk, the food half eaten. Joey looked over to Seto and eyes his tray.

"Aren't you going to eat Seto?"

"No, let's head back ."

"But were going to be gone for a while, you should eat."

"We'll have food packs, come on." They stood and walked out of the cell.

"So stubborn." Joey mumbled under his breath.

"I heard that."

"Of course ya did, you got these things." Joey skipped up next to Seto and pinched one of his ears. He quickly stepped away but Seto sidestepped and pinched his rear.

"Why you gotta do that?"

"The same reason you would pinch my ear."

"I don't even know why I do it…"

"Hm that's fine." He grabbed the blonde's hand and gently led him to the lab where Kasakabi and a handful of scientists were waiting for them. Kasakabi grinned widely and beckoned them over to his side.

"Today is the day of your departure my friends." Seto snorted, biting back a scathing remark. Kasakabi reached into a box and pulled out two large hiking backpacks.

"There are several large compartments in these packs. Food and water are already inside, but I'm afraid you will have to make due with the clothes you have on now until you return. The radios will not work from such a distance you will be traveling, so I expect you to make wise decisions on your own." He put the backpack down.

"Young adults will be your primary focus." He turned away from them.

"I wish you both luck, be on your way now." Joey looked at Seto and the brunette nodded. They both picked up their packs and walked towards the tunnels. The trek up the tunnels was almost too much for Joey to bear, the suspense was killing him. Would they die from the radiation?

"You're worrying too much." Joey looked up at Seto with wide eyes.

"I think I should be allowed to worry about dying." Seto smirked.

"Please, we're hardier than tanks. We'll be fine pup."

"But what if, right as we step out the door we fall down a really long hole and die?" Seto sighed.

"Hey it could happen!"

"It could, but it's not going to. Now hurry up we are almost at the door."

"Alright alright, jeeze have some patience."

"You and I both know that will never happen." Joey snorted and rolled his eyes as Seto increased his pace. As they neared the door Joey strengthened his hold on Seto's hand. They stood in front of the door. Seto looked at Joey, seeing the nervous look on his face he squeezed his pup's hand. Joey looked up at him.

"Ready pup?" Joey bit his lip, and nodded. Seto looked at the door.

"Here's to a new beginning." Together, they opened the door, ready to face whatever challenges would face them on their way. Both more determined than ever to eventually escape.

All right that's the last chapter of this story, I will now be revising The Future Is A Pain In The Butt. Which will have a new title and you will be informed of that new title. Please review it helps feed my ego . I know it was a little sudden but I just couldn't come up with a satisfying ending. So keep in touch for the sequel! Thanks to everyone who reviewed I love you all!


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